


Sweet for You

by smilingsarah10



Series: SFY [1]
Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Accidental Sugar Daddy AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-16
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-07-15 11:09:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 54
Words: 69,615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7219999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/smilingsarah10/pseuds/smilingsarah10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>John is a struggling college student. Lafayette is a lonely businessman. A twist of fate (and a push from their friends,) bring them together in an interesting way that works for them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Lafayette looked out over the city that he had come to love. His penthouse apartment had everything he could have asked for: there wasn’t an amenity on the market that he didn’t have. He used to love nights like this. He used to love sitting on his leather couch in his basically monochrome and chrome apartment with the fire roaring and casting shadows over the modern décor with an old fashioned as his only company. The cold felt like home compared to the old decadence that he had retreated from in France. He had given all of the lavish lawns and 10 bedroom houses to his best friend for safekeeping after his parents died and hadn’t looked back since. He had been lining alone in Washington D.C. for business in the 15 years that followed his parents’ death and his retreat. This used to make him happy. Now, sitting in front of his immaculate views in his modern decadence, he only felt … lonely. He knocked back the rest of his old fashioned and texted his only friend, deciding that he was tired of being alone. George responded promptly, which was very unlike him. He was at a networking party and would love to see him. 

Lafayette showed up at the location that George had sent him. There was no problem getting in the door, although there very rarely was these days. When Lafayette had first come to the US as an unknown businessman, he would get turned away because of his young age until he presented his ID. Over time, the country had taken notice of the young, attractive socialite who had more money than he knew what to do with. It had taken many bribes to get him out of the public eye, but after a few years the country had moved on and left him alone like he wanted. _‘Out of sight, not out of mind,’_

Laf thought a bit bitterly. He must have been scowling when he finally reached George. “Gilbert! You are much too young to be looking like that at a party of all things. It is good to see you though. It’s been weeks.”

Lafayette blushed and customarily kissed his friend on both cheeks. George was the only one outside of France who called him Gilbert without losing their tongue. “George, it has been too long. My apologies, I seem to have thrown myself into my work again. And I am 35 this year. I think I have moved up from the young man you were so gracious to all those years ago.”

George had been his first friend. When Lafayette had shown up on the social scene, George was the only one who took a genuine interest in him as a person and not as a business asset or monetary gain. Lafayette had helped George in his political pursuits and helped him keep his senate seat for as long as he could. George helped Lafayette network and invest his money wisely. In all reality, the friendship between the two had doubled their money and net value, which the tabloids loved to speculate on: were they together or were they father and son? On a positive note, it gave them something fun to do as there was nothing better than fucking with the press and then proving them wrong not even a day later.

George led Lafayette through the crowded room and to the bar, only stopping a few times to make Lafayette network and dazzle the guests in attendance. Even in a bad mood, Lafayette knew how to charm a room. Even so, he was relieved to reach the bar. George ordered them both a scotch on the rocks. “So what has got you so bored on a Friday night that you haven’t anything better to do than come to a networking party? Why aren’t you out enjoying the nightlife? You’d still pass as young enough to do that.”

“Dancing has never really been for me, George. Besides, I’m not interested in finding anyone right now. I’m at the peak of my career. The top of my industry. No one could bring anything beneficial to the table so why bother looking?” They were both only nursing their drinks, and Lafayette hoped that meant that George wasn’t inebriated enough to make him talk about feelings.

“Oh, Gilbert. Martha would have a field day with you. You remember my ex-wife right? She has been encouraging me to put myself back out there. She has started this dating site, and at first she just wanted me to back it, but then she realized I still haven’t been dating like she asked me to so she made me make an account now that it’s pretty popular. Do you remember that app, Tinder? Her app and site are kind of the same premise but it’s for people that are looking for wealthy partners. It’s been kind of fun honestly.” Lafayette almost spit out his sip of scotch. He looked at George, meeting the man’s smirk with an incredulous look.

“You signed up to be a sugar daddy?!” He asked, disbelief clouding his voice. George laughed at his stunned expression. He even had the audacity to wink before he responded. “Well, that’s a vulgar term for it. Honestly, it’s fun to take care of someone else. I got bored of spending my money on myself, and rather than just leaving it in the bank where it’s doing no one any good I decided it would be better spent on someone I care about.” He took another sip of his drink before continuing, almost as if he was embarrassed. “I would probably be as skeptical as you, but I met someone on there who actually doesn’t care about my money or what I do. He joined the site as a beta member on a dare, and was going to drop as soon as the trial period was over when we went on our first date. That was a few months ago, and now we almost live together. I didn’t think I’d fall in love, but here I am with more pictures of him and me together than I ever had with Martha.”

He had handed Lafayette his phone. Sure enough, his gallery was full of pictures of tall, stoic George with a petite, frazzled looking man. The guy looked as if he was just out of college at the oldest, but in every picture he and George looked genuinely happy. It looked like any other relationship, not the weird Hugh Hefner scene that Lafayette had constructed in his head. There were crazy snapchats mixed in with picnic photos and lazy day photos. Lafayette couldn’t deny the jealous longing he felt looking at the pictures of his friend so happy. By the time he handed the phone back, George had finished his drink and was looking at him expectantly. “What?” Lafayette asked. 

“Come on, Gilbert. It’s obvious that you’re lonely. Why not give the site a try? You could be pleasantly surprised.” George was giving him that look. The _‘I’m going to be disappointed if you say no’_ look. 

“Merde! Fine! But I have questions first. Will you come back to the apartment with me to answer them and help me get started?” Lafayette wanted to regret agreeing to this ridiculous request, but George looked like he had received a top honor, so he couldn’t really be mad about it. 


	2. Chapter 2

John was sitting in his small apartment, finishing up an assignment when Alex showed up with what smelled like takeout. His thoughts were confirmed when Alex himself shouted from the entryway, “Yo, John, I’m home, and George sent me with enough food for an army. Can you come here?”

John sighed and shoved his laptop to the other side of the couch. Alex wouldn’t accept an allowance from George, so once or twice a week, George would buy enough takeout or groceries to feed a small army and send it home with Alex. Alex had stopped complaining when it became obvious that the gifts were to George a necessary part of their relationship. John didn’t mind because, hey, it was free food. That meant that his limited finances could go towards other things. 

“And how is Dad doing these days?” John asked. It was in the most innocent way, but still made Alex blush every time. When George had met John, he had called him ‘son’ almost the whole evening. John had gotten drunk and irritated, not out of the ordinary for him, and had snapped back, “OK, Dad.” Luckily, instead of taking offense, George had found it humorous. From then on, much to Alex’s chagrin, the joke had stuck. 

“George is doing just fine. He still thinks that you should join the site while it’s in its beta stages. For now, it’s free. You could get out there and find someone instead of studying all the time. His words, not mine.” He continued to hand John bags of food from the doorway until they both were overloaded and could make it to the kitchen. John pulled out his favorite dishes and started to eat straight from the carton. 

“I mean, as nice as the food every week is, I just don’t see the need to take money from someone that I haven’t earned. I don’t want to feel like a prostitute? Not that there’s anything wrong with that as a profession. I just don’t feel comfortable with it for myself,” John had spent the last few weeks giving excuses as to why he couldn’t join the site. The explanations had doubled when the app had been developed. In all honesty, after his father had disowned him for being gay, John never wanted to rely on someone for anything again. That’s why he was working so hard to become a surgeon. He had talent. He just needed the degrees to back the talent up. That meant he didn’t do much dating of any kind, much less dating where you had to cater to some rich guys fantasies.

Alex rolled his eyes. “You know it’s not like that all the time. These guys are real people. They’re just real people with too much money on their hands. It’s like they become so wealthy, they forget how to interact with people without exchanging money. Martha has been hand picking wealthy singles and people like you and me to make sure that it’s not entirely about the money. Apparently, from what George has told me, if you don’t make your own account she is going to have George bribe you into it.” 

John choked on his bite of noodles. “That is both hypocritical and against the message she is trying to send. Why do they want me so badly? You looking for a third or something?” 

The fact that Alex chocked on his rice when John said that made John’s embarrassment worth it. “Dude, uncool. They just want you to be happy. George latches onto people and wants to help them. It’s just what he does. Martha is much the same. Honestly, I think that is why they were even married in the first place, but I digress. The point is this: you should join. If for no other reason than to prove us all wrong if you hate it. What do you have to lose?” 

John let silence hang in the air as he and Alex finished their takeout and put all the unopened containers and left overs in their fridge. “If I say yes, will you all stop bothering me about it?” John finally asked when the silence had stretched on for hours. They had relocated to the living room, both in their comfy bedtime clothes. In his excitement to answer John, Alex’s glasses slipped from his nose and clattered to the floor. Gathering them, he went about babbling about how John wouldn’t regret it and how he had to let George know so Martha could approve him as soon as possible. Thinking that he could just put it off until it was too late and say he had forgotten, John put his headphones on and went back to his microbiology paper. After about 30 minutes Alex ran to the door and let George in. John assumed they were going to leave together like usual and was surprised when they both joined him on the couch. 

After noticing that they were still staring pointedly at him even after he had waved to acknowledge their presence, he pulled off his headphones. “Uhm, do y’all need the living room? I could go to my room.”

George smiled at him and looked confused. “It’s going to be hard to build you a strong dating profile if you’re not in the same room as us, son.”

Realization dawned on John and he tried to backpedal. “OH, you’re here to … well I was going to do it later? I haven’t had a shower so I can’t take a good headshot … I can do it by my …” All of his rambling was only earning him pointed looks from both George and Alex. “Or we could do it now. Fine. That’s fine.” The feeling in John’s gut definitely did not feel fine, but he was sure that it would eventually be fine. He trusted Alex and, by association, George and Martha. 

He ended up between George and Alex on the couch. Martha had approved him before George even got the text sent, and they had been giving him advice on what to list on his profile. The first stuff about him had been easy: his name, age, and occupation came to him as easily as if he was filling out a job application. It was his interests, his bio, and what he was looking for that were throwing him for a loop. “You like to draw, right? That’s an interest. And you’re athletic. If you put that, they’ll know you have abs!” Alex was trying to be helpful. George chortled while John tried to melt into the couch. 

“Those are both good. Just put anything you might have in common or of interest to a potential match. For your bio, it’s really just a summary of the other two categories. What you’re looking for is kind of like a filter to help only show you matches that might interest you. There are age ranges, activities, monetary scales, sex interested, gender interests, etc. Or you can say none of that matters. It’s personal preference.” George, as usual, was much more helpful in practical matters than Alex. John selected his interests that mattered: male, interested in sex, active, and between ages 25-50. He used one of his facebook profile pictures that Alex insisted was the hottest one. With some finality, he hit submit. 

Before he could call it a night like he wanted, Alex made him download the app. He and George walked him through how it worked. Men that might be interesting to John showed up on his screen with all of their information except for their name. If he wanted to see more of their profile, he should swipe right. If he was interested, he should swipe up. If he was not interested, he should swipe down. If both matched, they would have the options to exchange names and contact information. John liked the simplicity of the system, but thought the tutorial was unnecessary. It’s not like he was actually going to use the app. He just wanted to appease his friends. 


	3. Chapter 3

Just a week later at lunch, Alex plopped down across from John in the campus coffee shop. John looked up from his notecards and snorted at his room-mates disheveled appearance. There was a giant hickey forming on his neck, his clothes were in disarray, and he was desperately trying to do something with his hair. “Oh baby girl, what did George do to you this time?” John asked with a laugh as he stood up and pushed Alex’s hands out of his hair. He quickly and efficiently ran his fingers through Alex’s hair to get rid of the tangles and then twisted the strands into a messy bun. Alex looked at him with appreciation when he sat back down. “Lord, thank you. George convinced me to skip my morning classes because he can be very convincing when he wants to be and let me just tell you sometimes it’s like the man is in the dessert in a drought which is silly because it’s not like we don’t do it every night especially since I haven’t been home in a week, but I’m rambling and also late to our weekly lunch date. How are you?” 

John was always astounded how many words Alex could fit into one breath without stopping. His friend was verbose when he was nervous or excited or angry or just passionate. And really, he had opinions on everything so there wasn’t much he wasn’t passionate about. John realized that he had been asked a question and tried to get out of his head. “Good! I’m doing well. Sorry, I’ve just been a little stressed what with the major picking up cause it is junior year. I’m sure you’re feeling the heat too though so I won’t spend our lunch complaining.” 

“Well, you know the best way to get rid of stress right?” Alex wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at John who just picked up his latte and pretended not to notice. “Seriously though, some sex might do you good, and a relationship would do you even better. How’s the search coming? The app been treating you well?” 

John froze and looked at Alex confused before realizing exactly what app Alex was talking about. That app. The one he hadn’t opened since setting up his account. “Oh you know. It’s going…” He could tell with every word that Alex didn’t believe him and switched tactics. “Ok, but I just haven’t had time and if I don’t have time for an app, how will I have time for an actual person?” 

Alex still was giving him the same look, “John, you make time for the things that matter. I’ve seen you do that for three years now. As your best friend, I’m making you pick up your phone and get on the app. Yes now! Don’t give me that look! I’m not going to let you just hopelessly ruin this chance for yourself.” As he was talking, he was switching sides of the table so that he could sit beside John and picking up his phone off the table to open the app. John was regretting sharing so much with Alex: in this particular moment it was his passion and the passcode to his phone as well as his taste in men. 

The next hour was spent with Alex showing him profiles and John saying no for various reasons. Alex had almost given up hope when John clutched his arm. “Wait, show more on that one.”

The man that had caught John’s eye was 35. His profile said that he was a businessman ‘of too many things to list’ and was interested in ‘someone who could keep up’. Alex could see the gears turning in John’s head. He knew that John’s plan had been to say no to each option until Alex got exasperated and quit, but he didn’t think John was prepared to be met with someone who was at face value the perfect match for him. “Shit. He’s hot. And it looks like he’s active. AND he is obviously successful. What do you think he means by ‘keep up’?” John was babbling, and he knew it. 

Alex was looking at him excitedly. “There’s only one way to find out.” And with that, he swiped up. John’s breath caught in his throat. So now they waited to see if the other man matched with him. Or at least that’s what should have happened in John’s opinion. Instead, a popup appeared asking if he would like to exchange his contact information. “OH look at that, he had already swiped up on you! Exchange your info! Get yo man!” John nervously agreed and hit the agreement button. 

“Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette. That’s his name.” John was almost giddy with nervous excitement. Alex was acting like a helicopter mom at prom, beaming and exclaiming that he had to tell George. 


	4. Chapter 4

George was sitting in a restaurant on the other side of town when the notification came in from Alex. Across from him, Lafayette was looking over the menu as if he wasn’t going to order the same wine and meal that he got every time they came to this particular lunch spot. White wine. Chicken Salad on a Croissant. Chocolate melting cake. In that order. He was about to say something about how the menu hadn’t changed in ten years, but when he met George’s eyes across the table and he was giving him a strange look. “Gilbert, I think a congratulations is in order.”

Lafayette’s confusion must have read on his face. George chose to chuckle rather than elaborate. He picked up his glass of whiskey as soon as the waitress sat it down prompting Lafayette to do the same, “To long life, good friends, and finding love in strange places.” Both men drank. It had been a good toast, but Lafayette was undeterred. “George, stop being so cryptic. What is this?” 

The waitress took their menus without asking what they wanted. Being long time regulars had its perks. “Well, Alex just texted me the name of the guy his best friend matched with. You’re going to love him. John is perfect for you and just what you need to get you out of the house.”

“John?” Lafayette was trying to keep up with George. It had been a two weeks since George had convinced him to set up an account. He hadn’t been on it much, but that didn’t bother him. He had only swiped up on one person. The boy looked barely 20’s but there was a fire in his eyes. He was muscular, active, and in school to become a surgeon which meant he had ambition. He had checked back a couple of times to see if anything had happened, but there had only been radio silence. He was apparently thinking out loud, because George was chuckling again and prompting him to check his phone. Sure enough, there was an app notification.

“John Laurens,” Lafayette whispered the name, testing it out on his tongue. 

“Well, aren’t you going to talk to the boy?” George asked, looking confused when Laf cleared out the notification and put his phone face-down on the table.

“I am a gentleman, sir!” Lafayette exclaimed with mock offense, “I would never interrupt my time with you to text.”

“You’re nervous. That’s a cute look on you, Gilbert. Makes you look a little younger.” As George was pushing his friend’s buttons, their food was laid out in front of them. “Really though, son, you should message him. It wouldn’t have exchanged your information if he wasn’t interested.” 

Before Lafayette could say anything on the contrary, his phone vibrated from its spot on the table. “Looks like he has more initiative than you,” George simply stated before biting into his sandwich. Laf snatched his phone up off the table, praying it was a business email just so he could rub it in George’s face. Instead, he was met with a message from a number he didn’t have in his phone yet. ‘Hey! This is John. I’m not entirely sure how to start a conversation after meeting on an app, but I thought I would reach out first just so you’d have a number to put with the name on the profile.’

He ended up reading the text out loud to George to ask for advice how to respond. “Don’t the French speak the language of love, Gilbert? Just have a normal conversation. For the love of God, this is dating, not rocket science.” 

Lafayette waved his hands in a way that conveyed both his annoyance and nervousness without saying a word. George sighed and grabbed his phone. He tapped away for a moment before handing the phone back to Lafayette. Lafayette read the response. George had typed, ‘Thank you for being so prompt! My name is Gilbert. I’m excited to get to know you.’ 

Lafayette groaned, “That is way too formal. He’s going to think I lied and am actually 70.” 

“It worked with Alex,” George responded without taking offense. Lafayette retyped a response and hit send before he could overthink it anymore. ‘Good to hear from you! I’m excited to get to know you better. Tell me a little about yourself?’ 

They continued their lunch, moving to more comfortable topics of conversation for Lafayette. George got a text from Alex after some time had passed that made him snort. “Alex says that you and John are perfect for each other because you both agonize over text messages before sending them.” 

Lafayette put a hand to his heart and said with mock admonishment and an exaggerated version of his accent, “Well excuse moi for caring about what I say to my one true love!”

He loved the way that George laughed when he was genuinely amused. He had seen it more and more as he opened up about Alex and their relationship. Over the last two weeks, he had learned that Alex was 21, attended Kings College as a junior pre-law student. They had an interest in military history in common. Alex loved the wealth of knowledge George had collected over the years, and George loved Alex’s passion and all the perspectives that he brought to the table that George had never considered. From what he could tell, it seemed like a mutually beneficial relationship. He was happy for his friend for finding someone he truly clicked with. 

His phone buzzed again with another text. ‘That is a very ambiguous question. I am 21. A junior at Kings College majoring in pre-med. I would like to be a surgeon someday. I play volleyball for the school as well as intramural soccer. I live in a tiny apartment by the park with my friend Alex who says I spend way too much time studying which is why he wanted me to join the app anyways.’

Lafayette was impressed. Two sports essentially on top of a difficult major left little time in someone’s schedule. Before he could say as much to John, John sent another message. ‘Your turn. Tell me a little about yourself? ’ 

Trying to balance the conversation with George and think about what he wanted to say was tough. He was trying to think of anything he did outside of work. Was that really all his life had become? ‘I’m pretty boring for a billionaire actually. Ha ha. I work in international affairs. You name it, I probably have a connection to it. I travel quite a bit for business. My best friend, George, tells me that I need to get out more often as well. Perhaps we could take a break from our responsibilities and meet? On your terms, of course. No pressure.’ 

He again hit send before he could stop himself. He had a tendency to stand in the way of his own happiness, and he was determined to not overthink this. Their dessert arrived and the men settled into a comfortable silence. When George’s phone went off again, it was a call instead of a text. “Gilbert, I am so sorry, but it’s Alex. Do you mind if I take this at the table?” Lafayette, with a full mouth, waved in a way that he hoped would convey to George that he didn’t mind at all. 

George picked up. “Alexander, you know I am at lunch with my friend.” The tone he carried was authoritative, like Alex had broken a rule. The phone was turned down low enough that Lafayette couldn’t pick up what Alex was saying. “Yes, THAT friend. You’re still with John? _You’ve skipped class?_ That’s all day: you could definitely get in trouble for that. What? … Yes, I **know** love trumps class sometimes. … Alex, you’ve got to slow down. … No, I don’t have anything tonight. Ask …? Oh, ok, I see. Gilbert, are you doing anything pressing this evening?” 

Lafayette pulled out his phone. He liked to personally run his schedule off of his phone. His calendar was linked to every device he owned and everything was color coded to differentiate the type of business, urgency of the meeting, and country of origin so that he could keep track of time zones. Surprisingly, he had a clear block of time that evening after 6 PM. He passed on that information to George who in turn repeated it to Alex. 

“You want to do what, now? … John has lab that late? … Alexander, _I am 45 years old!_ … The price we pay for love? … Jesus, let me ask. Gilbert, would you like to go on a double date with Alex and I to a local club tonight?” George looked like he was panicking. Lafayette wondered how long it had been since George had gone to a nightclub outside of the high class ones in the business district. 

“I’m game if you are, but if you need to lie and say no for your own health, George, by all means use me as an excuse.” The jab at his friend’s age did not go unnoticed. He tipped the phone away from his mouth to try and keep Alex from hearing “Listen, son, I have aged like a good scotch. I may be old, but I am not dead,” George placed the receiver back near his mouth, but Lafayette could tell that Alex had heard by the laughter coming through the phone. “Gilbert and I will see you both at 9 PM tonight. We are both very excited. OK, be good. Alexander, you are in public! Please behave yourself. OK, talk to you soon. Bye.” 

George shook his head. “What do you even wear to a bloody nightclub?”

Lafayette laughed openly at his friend’s discomfort, “I can help you pick something after my meetings tonight. We could meet and have a drink in your house, take the subway to my apartment and have another drink, then meet the boys at the club.”

George agreed to the plan. As the two were solidifying their addresses and calendars, Lafayette got a text from John. ‘Sorry about Alex. He can be nosy at best and pushy at worst. I am however very excited to meet you in person. Do you dance?’ 

Lafayette laughed again, showing his text to George who groaned again. ‘I do dance. Save one for me?’ 


	5. Chapter 5

“Alex, what if I wear the wrong thing and he hates me on sight?” John was definitely not panicking. His room was definitely not covered in discarded clothing from changing his mind so many times. He had definitely not talked Alex’s ear off about every insecurity he could think of and then some up to and including: “what if my curls fall?”, “what if I spill my drink on him?”, or even “what if he ends up liking you more?” all to which Alex had been sure to reassure him would either not happen in one million years or was really just a silly thought. Alex had on a graphic tank top and some nicer shorts that hit right above his knee with some loafers on. He had kept his hair pulled into the messy bun. He had let John redo it to get rid of some of his nervous energy. It hadn’t worked, but the new angle of the fly-aways showcased his hickey from George so he wasn’t disappointed. 

“John, it’s a night club. We have been to this one both in our pajamas and practically naked. I chose it so you’d be more comfortable. It’s like your home turf. You usually wear that one tank top, right? The one that is a bit too big, falls off your shoulder, and shows off the white ink on your back? Wear that with those shorts that show off your ass. You know the ones. Yeah, those ones. Then throw on your lucky Chucks, and you’re good to go.” It was a good thing that they were close enough that they had seen each other naked a million times because John started stripping and reassembling his outfit right then and there. He decided to throw his hair up as well to keep it out of his face. That also got rid of the temptation to hide behind it when he inevitably got nervous. 

He checked himself out in the mirror. The intricate sea scene in white ink peeped out invitingly from over the drooping neckline of the tank top so his muscles were on display without looking like he was trying too hard. The shorts did indeed show off his best assets and his clean chucks made the outfit look put together. He was satisfied. “It’s almost 5, dude. You gonna go to lab or nah?” Alex chuckled from where he was sitting on John’s dresser, “I can put your stuff away just in case tonight goes really well and you have a guest. Then I’ll just meet you at the lab with our flasks afterwards and we can walk over from there?” 

John blushed at the thought of bringing basically a stranger back to his room but didn’t air his concerns to Alex. “Yeah, yeah. I’m taking my bag and I’m leaving. Where’s my tiny bottle of cologne at again? I don’t want to go to the club smelling like lab, you know?” He was ruffling through the connected bathroom. Alex tapped him on the shoulder and handed him the little bottle. “See, John, this is why you need someone in your life. Unless you’re trying to move in with me and George, you’re going to need someone to take care of you when I’m gone.” 

“I’d be fine on my own,” John protested on his way to the front door. 

“You’d be better with a wealthy, hot businessman,” Alex hollered as the door closed. 

John couldn’t focus on the lab. He was trying to count bacteria cultures. He was trying to see what the best antibiotic in the lab was. He was trying to stop picturing what the handsome stranger might look like in person. After he had successfully knocked over their fresh auger* four times, his lab group banished him from the lab, promising to send him pictures and their notes so it looked like he was there the whole time. He usually was so careful, they were honestly concerned for his health and wanted him to go rest. He laughed at the thought and shot a quick text to Alex to let him know he was done early. Within 5 minutes, Alex was there and handed John his flask. They laughed and drank all the way to the club. They were about an hour early, but they decided they could go in and drink a little more to calm their nerves before their dates could arrive. Alex informed John over the base line blaring that George had stopped texting him around 7 when Gilbert had arrived at his house to help him get dressed. Alex was excited to see if Gilbert could get him to wear anything other than slacks and a button down, but his hopes weren’t very high. 

They ordered their first round of shots: peppermint patties followed by Alex’s personal favorite, some concoction that was called a Cum on the Grass. John suspected he just liked ordering it because the taste did not outweigh the texture in his opinion. John knew that with his flask from earlier, he should probably only have four shots before he would be sufficiently between tipsy and drunk. They were going to have to pace themselves if they wanted to still be on their feet when their dates arrived. “Let’s go dance until they get here!” John pulled Alex to the dance floor after taking a tequila shot. Hopefully they could dance off the nerves and the buzz from the alcohol. 


	6. Chapter 6

“It is highly unprofessional for a senator who is up for reelection to be at a night club.” George was stating the obvious as he looked at his reflection in Lafayette’s bathroom mirror. He was obviously uncomfortable in his outfit, but it served multiple purposes as he was basically disguised, looked 10 years younger, and would actually fit in with the crowd at the nightclub. It was just a good thing he had kept up with his workouts over the years because the shirt Lafayette had pulled from God knows where in his closet left nothing to the imagination. He was borrowing a hat that was apparently called a ‘snapback’ by the younger crowd, and Lafayette had made him wear sneakers instead of his usual loafers. 

Lafayette was sipping at his rum and coke. Had he been a younger man, he would have already downed around three glasses to calm his nerves, but he had really cut back on drinking since his wild days and did not want to overdo it. “Well yeah, but tonight you’re not Senator George, you’re ‘Daddy’ George,” Lafayette put emphasis on the vowel in ‘daddy’ earning him a look from the older man. 

“Just hand me my drink, and, Gilbert, can’t you behave for like 5 minutes please?” George finished off his old fashioned in one throwback. Lafayette got up to pour him another drink and get out of arms reach before responding, “Well I probably could, but you aren’t MY daddy so you can’t really make me.” The withering look he got from his friend was enough to get him to drop the subject with just a final, “Yes, sir.” 

Once they had both had another drink, Lafayette and George made their way into his room to get him changed out of his suit and something more club appropriate. “So if I have to wear this ridiculous outfit, what are you wearing?” 

“Really, George, you don’t look half bad like that. No one will recognize you, but you look more comfortable than you probably feel. As for me,” he pulled out the outfit he used to wear to clubs. It had been awhile since he had worn something with so many sequins, but night club wear never seemed to change. His tank top reflected the lights of the club and made his muscles look like they were literally rippling. He paired them with a smart pair of black shorts and some Toms. “Hair up or down?” He turned to George once he was changed. 

George nodded approval at his outfit. “The glasses and hair up look has always been your business look. Maybe lose the glasses and wear it down?” 

“Yeah, I could do that. I haven’t worn my contacts in like a week anyways.” Lafayette fluffed his curls and put in his contacts. He looked good, and in theory, he knew that. He had never had trouble bringing people home at the end of the night. For some reason, this felt very different than bringing home someone random. He had a target but no clear line of sight which made him inherently uncomfortable. That discomfort motivated him to finish his drink before he checked his watch. It read 8:37 PM. “You ready to head on over?” 

“As I will ever be.” George adorably cocked his hat to the side before they walked out of the apartment and down the elevator to the waiting driver. If nothing else, it would be an interesting night. They took shots of bourbon in the car, “for your nerves,” George had insisted. When they pulled up to the club and flashed their IDs to enter, Lafayette had no nerves left. He hadn’t been dancing in so long, and from the looks of the club goers, grinding was the same as it had always been. George, on the other hand, looked as if he might pass out before they even found Alex and John. “I need another drink,” he said eloquently. 

They made their way to the bar in the back of the club. George said something along the lines of, “two of the strongest drinks you serve please,” but Lafayette was looking across the dancefloor to see if he could spot John or Alex. Having only ever seen one picture of John, he wasn’t so sure what to look for, but he had seen many pictures of Alex because of George and assumed he could find him in the crowd with ease. Sure enough, just on the inside ring of the crowd, Alex was standing and laughing with his back to the bar. In front of him was John who was moving his hips in time to the music in a way that could only be described as sinful. Luckily, the bartender returned with their drinks before Lafayette could get nervous again. “You see our boys in there somewhere?” George asked, his eyes scanning the room in a similar manner to what Lafayette had just done. The way he said ‘our boys’ made him shiver. There was a sense of responsibility to the words that Lafayette would have to get used to. 

Lafayette pointed them out to him. George laid a card on the bar and asked the bartender to start him a tab, pointing out Alex and saying that his drinks would also be on it. The bartender nodded, taking note of who Alex was and a general description of the two of them. Lafayette hesitated for a moment before stepping up and starting a tab for himself and John. George patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. He never thought he would need a mentor in how to be a sugar daddy of all things, but he was glad that George was there for moral support and to learn from. With the establishment of the tabs, George apparently decided it was go time and headed over to where John was dancing and Alex was attempting to keep up. 


	7. Chapter 7

John had been so into dancing that he almost didn’t notice when two people approached Alex. He had to do a double take to realize that one of the people was George and the other must be… “Hi John,” the gorgeous man in front of him kissed him on both cheeks, “It’s VERY nice to see you in person.” 

The blush that flooded his face he would later swear was from the alcohol and not from the fact that he was openly ogling the man in front of him. The man was a good four inches taller than him and had very defined muscles pretty much everywhere. His facial hair was something that John had never considered a turn on before but damn if he didn’t really enjoy it now. He was something out of John’s dreams. Maybe he had passed out in the lab and was imagining all this. In a slightly drunken haze he reached out to touch his dates arm. “Holy shit, you’re ripped.” 

His date laughed and grabbed John’s hand to kiss it. “You’re not bad looking yourself.” 

“Gilbert, right?” John said, clearing his throat and trying to pretend like he hadn’t just acted like the most awkward human being on the planet. He just hadn’t believed that he could be more attracted to someone he knew nothing about until he had actually seen him in person. 

“George calls me Gilbert. My friends call me Lafayette. You,” he said locking eyes with John and moving behind him to whisper in his ear as the music changed to something slow and sultry, “can call me whatever you’d like.” 

His tone of voice and body language had John transfixed. He had so much control, so much dominance that flowed so naturally from him. “Could I have this dance?” He asked John unnecessarily because as soon as his hips started moving against John’s, John was matching his pace and movements. He placed one hand on John’s hips, the other carefully holding whatever drink he was drinking. His hand ended up roaming throughout the song to John’s delight. He ended up turned around so that they were dancing face to face which was amazing because Gilbert or Lafayette or whatever he ended up calling him had a smile that was brighter and more alluring than John thought he had ever seen. Finally the song switched to something more upbeat. They danced long enough that John slowly slipped back from drunk to minimally tipsy. “Would you like another drink?” Lafayette asked him, taking his hand and leading back to the bar. 

“I could actually go for some gross bar food, if you’re up for it,” John idly ran his thumb along the fingers of the hand in his, noting the softness and the curves of his knuckles. 

“That doesn’t sound half bad honestly. I had forgotten how much dancing takes out of you,” he chuckled and pulled John flush against him where he had perched on the barstool. He looked to John in a way that looked like a question of his comfort. John ran his hands up his thighs in conformation and Lafayette visibly relaxed. “You want anything in particular? Also, are you sure you don’t want a drink?” 

John wasn’t sure exactly what to order. He decided it was as good as any to start figuring out how this relationship was going to go. “Actually, I’m pretty terrible about making decisions. If you want to pick, I have no qualms about anything on the menu here. I don’t do well with beer, but other than that I am open to whatever you want to give me.” With that, he ran his nails down the outside of his date’s thighs with just enough pressure that it could be considered a tease. 

John couldn’t tell if he was imagining the dark look that came across his face or if the lights were doing something, but he thought that maybe that had been the right thing to say when Lafayette caressed his face gently. “How about this then: I’ll get us some drinks and some food, you go find the table that George and Alex snuck off to, and when it gets done, I’ll come find you.” John turned his face into the embrace and kissed his palm while humming an affirmation. Lafayette shoed him away after, pointing him towards the last table he had seen Alex and George at. 

It didn’t take long to find Alex. Before John could ask where George went, Alex had predicted the question and was answering him, “He is in the bathroom. He literally just left as you were walking out. You and Gilbert look like magic out on the floor, man. People have been asking if you all are professionals. Are you having fun? Is he everything you expected? Are you going to get it? I mean it kind of already looked like you were getting it, and BOY if that’s how y’all look in the bedroom, what I wouldn’t give to be a fly on the wall for that.” 

“Alex, dude, woah.” John laughed at Alex’s rambling. “I’m not into being watched. I feel like banging on the first date would be weird. Is this a date though? Oh, he’s paying for everything, do you think he’s expecting sex? I mean I AM having fun, and even if he wasn’t a billionaire he could get it any day. Did you see his arms? And the way he moves his hips? I’m having a blast. I just hope his personality is compatible.” 

“Where the heck is he anyways?” Alex in the seat that was facing away from the bar and had to do a full turn to see Lafayette waiting at the bar. “Oh he’s bringing the stuff back to the table? That’s kind of cute. George says that he’s like the silent caring type. Like he won’t announce what he does to show he cares, but he does little things. Like he has the recipes to all of George’s favorite drinks memorized and reminds George to grab his glasses of his desk via text before he leaves the office every day. And he is scary good at organization and time management. You could definitely benefit from that. When’s the last time you let someone take care of you?” 

John absolutely did not want to think about not having someone caring for him almost his entire life, or his father pushing him out of the house after his mother passed and then cutting him off when he went off to college and chose a major and a ‘lifestyle’ that he didn’t approve of. He chose to blatantly change the topic. “OH dude. I almost forgot to ask how you were feeling about George’s outfit! I almost didn’t recognize him.” 

Alex snorted. “I have never seen him dressed down so much. I have to hand it to Gilbert, he did an awesome job disguising him. He thinks it’s atrocious. While I admit that I definitely have a thing for him in suits, the skin tight shirt is something I would never complain about. My man has a fucking awesome body, and I am hoping to take full advantage of that as soon as he decides it is time to take me home. And by home I mean his home because as much as I would love to play dueling sex songs in the apartment, I think you and Gilbert should have a night to yourselves regardless of if you bang or not so we will be going back to George’s house. OH speaking of that I put the lube and the condoms in the top drawer of your nightstand instead of where you had them in the bottom of your dresser.” 


	8. Chapter 8

“Where did John run off to?” George’s question cut through Lafayette’s thoughts. He had appeared out of almost nowhere so Lafayette almost jumped out of his skin but managed to not spill his drink. “Hey, everything ok?” the concern in George’s voice was evident. Lafayette nodded. 

“Everything is great actually. John has been really receptive to all my flirting, and good God he’s the best dancer I’ve had the pleasure of being on the floor with. He seems to trust me which I’m assuming is because you and Alex both seem to trust me. He told me he’s bad at making decisions, that he was leaving it up to me and …” A blush crossed his face and he hoped it was dark enough that George wouldn’t notice, “Is it bad that my first feeling when he said that was excitement? I have no idea why, but, like, I get excited at the thought that he might trust me enough to put what he wants in my hands and trust me to take care of him and his dreams. Is that weird? That sounds weird to me? Am I a creep?” 

George laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Sounds to me like you just made a good match. Congratulations: now you are starting to know why people choose to be ‘sugar daddies’ and other types of give and take relationships.” 

“I just don’t want to fuck it up before it even begins. He seemed really into me on the dance floor, but I don’t want him to think I’m just doing all of this to get my rocks off. I should probably wait to take him to bed, right?” George was trying really hard not to laugh as his younger friend’s mind ran on tangents. 

“Let him take the lead. If he invites you to bed, feel free to blow his mind. If not, don’t push him. That’s the give and take part again. For now, stop over thinking it. You are both having a good time and that’s what matters. You may want to ask him about his classes tomorrow though. Other than his lab, I don’t think he and Alex went at all today, and I know John would kick himself later if he missed anymore.” George grabbed the nachos that Lafayette had ordered. He figured the whole table could enjoy them. He grabbed his and John’s drinks and followed George to a table that he had apparently left Alex at to go to the bathroom. John’s face was flushed as they slid into spots on either side of their dates, and Lafayette kind of wondered what they had been talking about before they sat down. He slid John his drink, and wrapped an arm casually around his shoulders. 

“I decided on the house nachos and mojitos. I hope you’re ok with those.” he said conversationally although he was housing a whole host of nerves internally about what to do if John actually didn’t like either of those things. 

Alex got to answer before John, “Dude, you nailed it. The nachos are actually John’s favorite, and he only drinks mojitos when he wants to get laid.” 

John almost spit out his first drink of mojito which only made Alex laugh as he dug into the nachos first. “Alexander, please. That was unnecessary,” George rolled his eyes when Alex pouted about being admonished. 

John grabbed a bite of nachos. The moan that came from him when he tasted the first bite was obscene and went straight to Lafayette’s dick. He tried to not look like someone who was hiding their raging hard-on under the table but from Alex’s laughter, he assumed he was failing. John looked up at him with big eyes that made his heart melt more than they logically should. “He wasn’t lying about the nachos,” John said as he picked up a loaded chip and went to feed it to him. When he got it solidly in Lafayette’s mouth, he leaned in and whispered, “He wasn’t wrong about the mojito either,” and pulled away with a wink. ‘Jesus, if this keeps up, I’m not going to last the night,’ Lafayette thought as John’s hand grazed his thigh under the table. 


	9. Chapter 9

John enjoyed the conversation and company at the table more than he expected. Alex kept trying to bait them into talking about having sex. George would immediately shut him down and change the conversation to something that would teach them more about each other. It was like a weird game of twenty questions. John found out that Lafayette was from France and had come from money there, but had taken his family’s business and expanded it into international levels. He didn’t have many hobbies other than going to the gym because most hobbies were hard to pack onto planes at a moment’s notice. John opened up about his art, showing Lafayette and the rest of the table some nature sketches that he had been really proud of from his phone gallery. He mentioned in passing his father’s dislike for nature, but didn’t elaborate any further. 

George and Alex kept exchanging looks that John had no way of reading. Around midnight, they excused themselves for the night. Alex gave John a pointed look and then said goodnight to Lafayette. George did much the same to Lafayette. _‘At least we know our friends care about us,’_ John thought, grinning. When they rounded the corner, Lafayette sighed in what sounded like relief. “You alright?” John asked, moving his hand from Lafayette’s leg to his arm. 

“I’m way better than alright. George has been my best friend since I came to America, but sometimes he acts more like my dad or like an older brother. Have you ever had to have a boner under the table while trying to avoid making eye contact with someone like that? Shew, I was sweating.” Lafayette’s joke was evident and John laughed openly. 

“Oh no,” he drawled, “Did I do that? I wish I could say I was more sorry.” 

“Yeah, yeah. Act like a brat. I always love a good challenge. So tell me about where you are from? I can hear the accent. I’m guessing somewhere in the south but not, like, the deep south?” he ventured conversationally. 

“South Carolina by birth. I came to the city to get away from my roots. I’ve been on my own for a long time so I figured why not be on my own in a place where I could actually be myself. What about you? Life in France seems like it would be wonderful; what was the draw to the States?” John figured that was a sufficient enough explanation of his past, and the way Lafayette locked up when he mentioned France clued him in to the fact that maybe he didn’t much want to talk about his past either. 

“France was … wonderful. I grew up wealthy and in the public eye. A flamboyant aristocrat that everyone wanted to talk about. When my parents died, my best friend told me I looked miserable sleeping in the big houses all by myself. She and I sat down and formed a plan. We got married as soon as possible. The tabloids ate it up. Then, we divorced all according to our plan. In the divorce, she ‘won’ the houses and opulence I had come to hate. I ‘won’ my freedom. I left for the states immediately. She and I spend most of our time together when I am in France. She has actually been pestering me to start dating for a while now.” John was blown away by Lafayette’s honesty and how he was willing to open up. He let him continue. “I hope that wasn’t too much information. I just don’t see any need to beat around the bush with you. No one here knows of my previous marriage, but I didn’t want to go into this and have you possibly find out later, if you’ll let me have a later, and be confused or upset. I value honesty. I have good instincts when it comes to people, and you seem like just my type. I can only hope that I am also yours and that you will allow me to take you on more dates in the future.” He looked so nervous even as he continued to smile. 

John kissed him on the cheek to hopefully put his doubts at ease. “So just to clarify, you and your best friend got married and then divorced so that she could become ridiculously wealthy and you could leave the country. Then you came to this country, multiplied your wealth for years, never looked for someone else, and got lonely. Then you scoffed at Washington and made fun of him for being a sugar daddy when you had basically been a secret one for years?” 

Lafayette openly snorted which shouldn’t have been cute, but John couldn’t help but continue to laugh at. His hands were gesturing wildly and even with his protests he was smiling comfortably. John was in deep: he knew it already but he didn’t even care. He wanted to get to know everything about Lafayette and could tell the other man felt the same. After the conversation carried on awhile longer, John finally came back to his question. “Oh, by the way, I would love to go on more dates with you. We could date. I mean …” He didn’t know why he was floundering so much, “I would very much like to be actively datin’ you if you don’t think I am the most awkward human in the room.” 

Lafayette in turn kissed his cheek. “I would very much like that.” 

The song change made John shoot up from the table. Lafayette looked startled at the sudden motion. John rushed to explain. “That’s the closing song. I can’t believe it’s two AM! We’ve gotta head out or they’ll recruit you to help clean up!” At that, Lafayette laughed good naturedly. He guided John to the bar where he settled the tab, then they were out the door. 

John wasn’t sure where to go next with the night. Lafayette seemed hesitant as well: it was like he was waiting on John’s approval to do anything. It was endearing but didn’t really let John know what his options were. Finally after they had stood outside for a moment, he took Lafayette’s hand. “I’m not sure if this is too soon, but would you like to come back to my apartment. We don’t have to do anything if you’re uncomfortable with it, but I have Netflix and a comfortable couch.” He had approached the subject as gently as he could so the ball was back in Lafayette’s court. Based on his smile, that had been the right question to ask and the answer would probably be yes. 


	10. Chapter 10

Lafayette and John walked hand in hand to his apartment. Lafayette was on his phone assigning his morning meetings to his assistants and letting his personal assistant know that he was not to be bothered until afternoon the next day. His assistant had just shot back an affirmative when John got his attention. “Whatcha doing so intently on your phone?” he asked, seemingly more curious than upset that Lafayette had checked out of the conversation up to that point. 

“Well, I run my business through my phone. So I have a message with my personal assistant to make sure that he knows when I will be in the office and when I won’t be. Then I have lower down assistants and managers that I can assign to the meetings I don’t want to attend. Tomorrow morning I had a few that I was definitely not looking forward to, so I was assigning bonuses to those who were willing to go in my place. Then, I was updating my calendar.” He tipped his phone so that John could see the screen better. John’s eyes widened, and Lafayette could only wonder whether he was impressed by the organization or horrified at how packed the schedule seemed to be. “Quite a few of the block meetings can be done from my home office over skype. Others are done in my office in the city. Some I travel to my extension offices for. They are all color coded and particular. The only ones that can see this are myself, my assistant, and Adrienne.” 

“Adrienne?” John repeated looking confused. Lafayette realized he hadn’t said her name in their earlier conversation. “That would be the best friend/ex-wife I was telling you about earlier.” 

If John thought it was weird that she was still on his schedule, he didn’t let it show. Instead, he was leading Lafayette into the door of what he was assuming was his campus apartment. When they got in the door, John looked nervous. “It’s not much,” he started, kicking his shoes off at the door, “but it is home.” 

“No, no, don’t use that tone of voice. You should have seen my first apartment. It was half the size of this and I would have never been able to invite someone like you that I was trying to impress in. Besides, that couch does look really comfortable.” His words had their desired effect and John relaxed, leading him over to said couch once his shoes were also off. 

“Do you want something to drink? We have water and tea in the fridge.” Watching him play host was cute and domestic. Lafayette turned down a drink, causing John to shrug. “Your loss: I make the best tea.” 

“I will be sure to try some in the morning. Speaking of, do you have classes in the morning? I would feel terrible if I had kept you awake this late and you had an early morning class that you might sleep through.” He hadn’t really thought about that since his talk with George earlier, but now he was overly concerned with the fact that he didn’t know John’s schedule at all. 

“No need to be concerned. I don’t have morning classes on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s. If you wanted, or were willing to, or whatever,” nervous John was one of the cutest things Lafayette had laid eyes on. He pleasantly surprised Laf with the rest of his question, “I could give you my schedule to put in your calendar? I could download that app. I mean, if we are going to seriously date, it makes sense to know each other’s schedules, right?” 

He had been looking at Lafayette with hope in his eyes, but in what Laf knew to be a moment of doubt, John had looked down at the floor. Laf cupped John’s face and guided his eyes back up to meet his. “I would be honored to make you a permanent part of my schedule. Let’s get to work, oui?” John was beaming, and Lafayette realized he was as well. 

The next hour was spent going through John’s schedule and getting it integrated in Laf’s own. John had chosen a forest green for his classes and they were luckily coordinating with when Laf had business meetings. When they had gotten all of the classes written in, Laf said, “Alright, let’s mark major assignment due dates and tests in red.” 

John gave him a quizzical look, “Why do you care when my tests and shit fall?” 

Lafayette thought about the best way to respond. “Um. Mainly it’s just so I can anticipate when you’re going to be the most stressed. I know that sometimes it is nice to not have to explain to someone why you can’t have a date a certain week or else you’ll pull all your hair out. I just like to be prepared, you know?” 

John reached up and tweaked his cheek. “Aw. That’s like one of the sweetest things I’ve ever had someone say to me. Let me go grab my syllabi.” 

Once all of the major assignments had been inputted, Laf again looked to John for him to continue. John shrugged making Laf sigh. _‘Really, how does this boy get anything done if he doesn’t have a running schedule,’_ he thought before prompting John again. “What about volleyball, intramurals, and art?” 

John’s eyes lit up. “You’re seriously interested in putting that in your schedule?” 

“Yes, John. I’m seriously interested in you, and all of these activities are a part of what makes you who you are. I am not going to promise to be at every single one, because contrary to popular belief I am indeed only human, but I want to be as involved in your life as you will hopefully want to become involved in mine.” John looked like there were tears in his eyes. Laf wondered when the last time someone had focused so much attention on getting to know John. “So sports and viewings?” 

John listed all the important dates for soccer (teal) and volleyball (light green). There was only one art presentation each semester so that date was put in lime green and set to important. Finally, Laf was looking through the schedule. “I’ve put in some time in pink that I think would work well for formal dates and when we are not so exhausted I can look and see what trips you can come on with me and when the galas and things like that are that I have to attend. Oh, you’re a student, right, … when do you go home for break?” 

John paused like he was having an internal debate. “You were so honest about your past with me before, I guess it’s time for me to be honest, too. This is my home. I don’t have any home to go to other than this. Mi madre, met my father and they had sex out of wedlock. I was his bastard child and he always made sure I knew that. She died when I was 11. They took me to my father and he hid me away in apartments with sketchy caregivers until I was old enough for college. He paid for everything until I decided to go to a school he didn’t want for a major he didn’t want and then come out as gay. So he disowned me at 18. I’ve worked my ass off since then to take care of myself. I try not to rely on others. So if we are doing this, for real, I thought you should know. I don’t go anywhere but here for holidays.” 

Lafayette was speechless. He gently took John’s hand, keeping eye contact to look for signs that John didn’t want to be touched. Tears clung to the corners of his eyes along with a palpable fear of rejection. “Thank you for opening up to me. Thank you for trusting me with that information. I promise that everything you say to me will be held in confidence until or if you ever reach a point where you want it to be shared. Are you tired? Do you want to rest for the night? We don’t have to keep working. It’s around 5 now.” 

“No, I’m enjoying doing this with you. I’ve never had … I didn’t realize that you caring would make me so emotional. I’m sorry if this is weird for you.” John chuckled through the tears, but clung to Laf’s hand and thigh. Lafayette pulled him up into his lap. “Is this ok?” John nodded his head. 

“Emotions are natural. You don’t have to hide any part of yourself around me. Even if I don’t agree 100% of the time, I’m not going to slight you for how you feel. Once again that is part of who you are, and I want it all. The good and the bad. We won’t always agree, but I am excited for the journey of discovering each other and I’m excited for the chance to get to know you. You, I have on good authority, are remarkable. Now, I’ll rephrase that question. When is your last class and finals?” 

Lafayette was reaching to grab his phone, but before he could reach it, John leaned down and kissed him soundly. It was like drinking a good bourbon. The flavor at first was new and exciting, lighting up on his tongue, then the kiss deepened and they both got lost in the slow, steadying embrace of the other. John pulled away first, probably remembering that he needed air to breathe and live. Then he grabbed Laf’s phone from its spot on the couch and plugged in his last day and finals schedule. “So basically, we take care of each other?” he asked, still emotionally raw. 

“Absolutely. For as long as you can stand me.” Lafayette replied, smoothing away his fly-away hairs around his face. He placed a gentle kiss on his forehead and pulled him down to his chest to just hold him. They stayed like that in comfortable silence. Lafayette was considering the amount of responsibility he had just taken on, but was finding himself oddly at ease with it. He had never formed as strong of a connection as fast with anyone in his life. He doubted that it was by providence of the dating site and more divine intervention that brought them together. Whatever it was, he was feeling really blessed or maybe lucky to have discovered this facet of his own personality and in turn someone who was so in need of being taken care of and seemed to genuinely like Laf. He had thought that John had fallen asleep, his breathing evening out and slowing down, so he was startled when he heard a small voice from his lap. “Gil?” Laf’s breath caught in his throat. No one had ever really shortened his name like that, especially not with that tone of voice and he could only think, _‘Oh if that is not the sweetest sound I will ever hear in my life.’_

He hummed in response. John sat up and looked him dead in the eye. John’s eyes were heavy lidded, but dark and sultry and not even close to matching the innocence in his voice. For the first time in 15 years, Laf felt so flustered he forgot English. “Oui, mon cherie.” 

John had moved so that he was straddling his waist. He kissed Laf on the lips, innocent and chaste until all of the sudden it wasn’t and he was nipping at Laf’s bottom lip and kissing his way into his mouth, dirty and rough. Laf took control and slowed them down, struggling to maintain his composure when John was practically grinding on his lap. He almost lost it when John whispered in his ear, “Will you please take me to bed?” 

Laf made him settle and stop moving. He didn’t want John to make a decision based on exhaustion and the emotional roller coaster that had been their night. Looking in his eyes for any trace of doubt, he firmly asked, “Are you certain that is what you want?” 

He was met with a clear, almost feisty gaze. The sleepy lamb that had been in his arms only moments before had turned predatory, and Laf knew exactly what he wanted before he even said, “Yes,” then nipped down Laf’s neck just to prove the point. He scooped John up into his arms and carried him to the bedroom that John pointed him towards. As the door to the bedroom closed, Laf could only think, _‘Oh goodness, what a night.’_


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can't add a tag because of shitty internet but there's some daddy kink in this. If you're like me, I know, I was excited too. If you are a hater, just know it is in there

John knew exactly what he was doing, but he was surprised how easy it was to get Gil, the name he had finally settled on for his new boyfriend, to comply. The mood hadn’t been sexy necessarily, but after John had gotten out all the other emotions while they were talking, he was left being both content and horny. It had only taken a little grinding to get Gil back in the mood from earlier that night. He had carried him to the bed, tossed him on it, and then climbed on top and was kissing John at almost a punishing pace. There was only just enough room to breathe, and John felt like he was drowning in the best possible way. Without changing the pace of kissing, Gil pulled off his shirt. John blocked him from kissing him again, propped himself up on his elbows, and took in the sight. “Well, damn,” he breathed as his fingers traced Gil’s abs and down until his happy trail met the top of his shorts. 

Gil was chuckling. “You’ve got forever to appreciate those. Come on, arms up.” With some help, John’s shirt disappeared. Gil’s teeth found his ear, his neck, his chest. He was moving slowly, making sure to pull as many gasps and moans out of John at each area before moving to the next one. He moved up to kiss John’s lips, sliding one of his knees between John’s legs. John rutted up and moaned, before realizing what he had done and getting embarrassed. He covered his face with his hands. “No, no. Don’t be embarrassed about what makes you feel good. No hiding from me.” Gil moved his hands from his face and pinned them to the bed. 

He resumed kissing John and otherwise driving him to madness with his mouth. It was a slow tease, and John had never had much patience. “Gil, please.” 

“Please what, John?” he asked and John could feel his smirk against his skin before he licked a stripe from his sternum down to his waistband. 

“Dear Jesus, can we please at least get out of our pants?” John was panting. He just wanted his cock free from where it was almost painfully straining against his shorts. 

He watched Gil stand up and pull down his pants and wink. “Well, Jesus isn’t here to help you so I guess I will have to remove your pants on his behalf.” 

John was going to comment on his timing to ask if now was really a good time to be making a joke about Jesus, but Gil had pulled down his pants and boxers at the same time, thoroughly distracting John. He tossed both somewhere behind him and crawled back onto the bed between John’s legs. He starting kissing John again, slowly with dirty intent, before continuing his slow and steady kissing back down his neck and down his torso and then finally his mouth was on John’s dick, and _oh_ John was in heaven. He took his time sinking down until the tip was pressing against the back of his throat and then he swallowed. John mewled and ran his fingers through Gil’s hair. He had John’s hips held firmly to the bed to keep John from thrusting. John was babbling, a chorus of begs and petnames and praises to try and get Gil to go even a little faster, but he had set the pace and it was going to be slow and sensual until John fell apart. The thought made John whimper. 

“John, sweetie, do you have condoms and lube?” Gil had pulled off to ask. John tried to find words and just as he thought he had, Gil started sucking a bruise into the inner part of his thigh. He bucked up and moaned, while Gil laughed darkly from between his legs. “Where was that babe?” 

John flipped him off good naturedly and gestured to the bedside drawers. Gil kissed him quickly and moved to grab them from the drawer. “How are you doing, petit?” 

“’M good,” John mumbled from the bed. You are amazing with your mouth. Be better if you’d fuck me.” 

“So direct aren’t we?” he was chuckling again. “I’m not quite done with my mouth, but who am I to deny my boy anything.” 

John closed his eyes to try and recenter himself. He was slowly careening towards the edges of his pleasure, and he didn’t want to say anything weird so he needed to reign himself back in. Before he could, Gil’s hands were back on his thighs and his mouth was back on his dick, licking and sucking at that same leisurely pace. John let himself get lost in the motions. He was only startled when he felt a slick finger find his rim and start teasing him there. He had no idea the filth that was coming out of his mouth, but whatever it was seemed to be enough to spur Gil on and suddenly he pushed in. It was just one finger, but John still hissed at the intrusion. Gil stopped sucking him off for only a moment to calm him. “Shh, John, just relax. God you feel so wonderful and taste so wonderful. Let me take care of you.” 

John made himself relax and was rewarded with another finger, scissoring and stretching him open. Gil moved up to pay his nipples some attention while he opened up John. “God, baby, you look so beautiful like this. Do you want another?” 

“Please,” John almost sobbed out. He had some partners and one night stands over the last few years, but they were few and far between, and they had certainly never been as thorough as Gil was being. 

John felt the third finger be added before he suddenly was seeing stars as Gil found his prostate. He didn’t realize he was begging until he was stopped by Gil kissing him as he kept hitting his prostate and John couldn’t do anything but moan and try to kiss back. He knew he was falling apart and he could care less. He didn’t know when Gil had put on the condom, but he was relieved when he felt him line up with his entrance and press in. He kept kissing him as he fucked into him slowly. The pace meant that his dick dragged across John’s prostate in a way that made him curl his toes and try to move his hips. The slow friction was agonizing. Gil was nursing a bruise on his collarbone and praising how tight John was and how good he felt. The praise mixed with slow pace and the hours of buildup made John’s orgasm sneak up on him. In the moment before it hit, he begged, “Oh Papi, please, please don’t stop, I’m about to…” 

“Oh fuck, baby,” Gil moaned and wrapped his hand around John’s dick. He let out a broken sob at the attention and completely forgot what he was saying as it only took two pumps of Gil’s wrist to have him orgasming harder than he thought he ever had. He heard Gil’s breath catch and his whole body tense up, the only signs that he had also came before he was gently kissing John and easing out of him. 

He heard more than saw Gil tie off the condom and toss it in the trash. He sat up when he heard the door close and Gil was no longer in the room. Before he could get too concerned, he returned from the connected bathroom with a damp cloth. He seemed surprised to see John sitting up. Without a word, he climbed on top of John again to clean him off and kiss him softly again. “Gil,” John broke the kiss with his name and a yawn, “What time is it?” 

Gil smirked and retrieved his phone from his pocket of his shorts. It looked to John like he had a full page of notifications. He simply turned the screen back off and crawled into bed with it still in his hand. With a quick kiss to the forehead, Gil pulled John into his arms again. “It is 5:45 AM. How are you feeling, sweetie?” 

“Content and exhausted. Was that good for you too? I am not sure I’ve ever had better sex in my life,” John started to babble but was shushed good naturedly by his boyfriend. _‘My boyfriend,’_ he thought excitedly really reveling in the fact that he got to call Gil that. “It was amazing for me too. You really do look so good blissed out like that. If I could trap us in that moment forever, I would be highly tempted to.” 

He turned his phone back on to scroll through the notifications where John could see the screen. He was whispering so that John could continue to sink into post orgasm bliss. “I have about a billion messages from my personal assistant, Mulligan, and Adrienne asking who John is and if they need to be in attendance at your volleyball game this Saturday.” 

John snorted, but saw that he was only halfway kidding when he read the messages. His assistant seemed surprised, but happy he had found someone. Adrienne was losing her shit over text. Most of what she was saying was typed in French, but Gil assured him it was only good things about how much she wanted to meet him. “She wants a picture. We didn’t take any earlier did we?” Gil asked distractedly. 

John wished he could be jealous of this girl, but he trusted Gil too much to even be put off by the fact he was messaging her right after they had sex. _‘Really great sex,’_ his mind helpfully supplied. He rolled over so he was both facing Gil and blocking his phone. His eyes were blown and happy in his post orgasmic state. His hair was a mess, which reminded John he probably looked like a mess. He joked, “Well I would say we could take one now, but …” he let the thought trail off in place of laughing. 

“I actually kind of love that idea. I want to remember this moment for as long as I can,” Gil surprised him by pulling him flush with his chest and turning his front facing camera towards them on his phone. He caught them both in the middle of a giggle. John saw him end the picture in all of its glory, sex hair and all, to Adrienne before setting it as his home-screen background. He got a text before he locked his phone. Adrienne had sent a bunch of exclamation marks. They both laughed as Gil locked his phone and tossed it to the side of the bed that they weren’t on. After, they settled into a comfortable silence. 

John was almost asleep when Gil shook him gently awake again. “Hey sweetie, I have a weird request that I want to ask before we fall asleep.” John looked at him quizzically trying to think of what he could possibly want to talk about. “If this is weird, you can just tell me.” John had only seen him nervous a few times that day but no more so then in that moment. He continued with John’s full attention. “You might not have meant to say it, cause you were so far gone I almost didn’t even hear it, but you called me Papi.” 

John sat completely upright in the bed. “I did **what**?” His heart felt like it had been jumpstarted. He started apologizing and internally agonizing over how ridiculous that was on the first date. _‘No wonder he was so quiet afterwards. Jesus I’m an idiot. What was I thinking?’_ He was only pulled out of his thoughts by Gil wrapping himself around his panicking form and gently laying him back down. 

“Hey, hey, shhhh,” Gil comforted him looking slightly amused through his concern, “I only brought it up because I liked it. I was surprised is all. No need to panic. I’m super into it. Didn’t I tell you earlier today you could call me anything you wanted?” 

John managed a laugh, “I’m glad you’re into it, and I’m up for calling you that because it is one of my favorites, but I’m also kind of mortified that it happened during our first time after our first date.” 

“At least we got all of the awkwardness out of the way right?” Gil joked before what John could only describe as a kiss attack as Gil sprung on him and pinned him to the bed peppering him with kisses. John couldn’t help but actually laugh and the stated awkwardness fell to the wayside. “Come on it’s bedtime,” he tried between laughs. 

“Ask me nicely,” Gil stopped to say before redoubling his efforts and moving up and down his torso in a way that almost tickled. 

While catching his breath John tried to respond, “Gil, please.” 

“Close,” he countered before continuing his onslaught. John was only confused for a moment before blushing at the realization of what Gil wanted. “Papi, please,” he said hesitantly. Gil slowed and made his way back up to John’s lips, detouring to whisper in his ear. “Anything for my boy.” 

After kissing for what felt like an eternity, John pulled away. “So if you’re Papi, what does that make me?” 

Gil looked him over. “Well, if we want to keep it consistent we will have to pick a word in Spanish. Unless you want to spice it up and pick one from the language of love.” The way he drug out the “u” sound and wiggled his eyebrows made John giggle. Gil caressed his face and kissed his nose. “It has to be as cute as you. This might sound silly, but how about two different names for different occasions?” 

John looked at him quizzically. He didn’t mind having different pet-names and said as much to Gil. Gil looked pleased. “Alright, so this is what I’m thinking: when you’re acting all cute and we are in public, I’m going to call you Pequeña but when it is more private and just us I think I will use Querido. How do those sound to you?” 

John leaned up to kiss Gil where he was still perched above him. “That sounds perfect. Maybe tomorrow afternoon we can try it out.” 

Gil groaned and flopped back down on the bed and on top of John. “Alright, but for now it’s about 17 hours past your bedtime. And by your bedtime, I mean mine. Sleep.” He kissed John’s cheek lazily. “Goodnight, Querido.” 

John hummed and settled into his arms better. “Goodnight, Papi.” Sleep found them both easily. 


	12. Chapter 12

When John opened his eyes, Gil was missing from the bed. Before he had time to think about panicking, he rolled over to the nightstand and saw a little note. ‘Went to the living room to do some business. Will have brunch ready when you get up. Xoxo, Papi’ 

John wondered how long ago that note had been written or even what time it was. He decided the only way to find out was to get up and find his boyfriend. Upon rising from the bed, John saw his reflection in the mirror. His hair was a mess of frizzy curls that had come half-loose from the hair tie overnight. He had lines that spanned the freckles on his face from the pillow crease. Basically, he was an all-around mess. He grabbed a pair of boxer briefs from the drawer, grumbling about nothing other than being awake, then looked around the room for his clothes from yesterday to find his phone. The room was actually immaculately clean. His club outfit had found its way to the hamper but his phone was no longer in the pocket. Taking another quizzical look around the room, John finally spotted it plugged into it’s charger under the note on the bedside table. 

Content on finding his phone, John emerged from the room looking for Gil. He heard singing coming from their small kitchen and assumed that was him. Without a second thought, he headed that way. The closer he got, the more it smelled like breakfast food and the more hungry he realized he was. By the time he got to the door, he had come up with a plan to see if he could get Gil riled up in the kitchen itself. He was about to put on his best sultry voice when he rounded the corner and took in the spectacle in front of him.

Gil was standing in the kitchen at the stove doing something heavenly with what smelled like eggs and bacon. He was naked except for his silk boxer briefs, and his whole back was on display with his hair pulled up in a bun and what looked like black framed glasses on his face. This was not what caused John to pause although he did lean against the doorframe to take in his boyfriend from behind. No, the change of plan was caused because Gil was not alone in the kitchen. 

As if he sensed him, Gil turned around from where he was at the stove. “Oh there you are, Pequeña. I hope you slept well, and I’m sorry you woke up alone.” He had crossed the small kitchen in a few steps to gently kiss John’s nose. Then he continued as if there wasn’t still a strange man at the table. “I’m making us brunch. I hope you are ok with it. We didn’t talk about allergies or dietary restrictions last night, but I figured if you didn’t like what I made you could let me take you to lunch to make up for it.” 

The man at the table was also seemingly pretending he was not there as he casually read a newspaper. John decided to breach the subject. “Nope, no allergies or restrictions. What you are making smells heavenly, and while I enjoy the sight of you cooking almost naked in my kitchen, shouldn’t you introduce me to your friend?” 

With that, the friend in question sat the paper down and stood. Gil didn’t even turn around from the stove when he responded, “Oh, I keep forgetting important things like that. This is my personal assistant, tailor, and all around close friend: Hercules Mulligan. I called him to get my go bag: it’s a bag that I keep in his car with a spare of pretty much everything in my life like my suit, keys, glasses, phone charger. Usually it’s for an emergency, so he was very surprised when I asked him to bring that and my ingredients for breakfast. Herc this is John.” 

“Yes I gathered. Pleasure to meet you, John.” He shook his hand. John had limited experience in meeting someone who was fully dressed while he was in his boxers with a head of sex hair, but he hoped it was not an experience he would ever have to repeat. “Please, call me Herc. It’s nice to be able to put a face to the new additions to the schedule.” With that he sat down and John quickly followed suit. 

“I apologize about my state of dress. I wasn’t aware there was anyone but Gil in here.” John didn’t think he had blushed more in his life. He thought he was saved when Gil laid down plates in front of all three of them. The conversation was apparently not over. 

Herc snorted, “You can trust that I have seen much worse. Laf here doesn’t think before he calls me so I have seen him in every manner of dress and undress that you could imagine.” 

Gil didn’t seem to have any shame, laughing along before leaning over conspiratorially to John and stage whispering, “Don’t worry love. Herc is as straight as a board and more dominant than even me. He isn’t interested and even if he was it would be like trying to pair two left shoes.” 

Herc was obviously embarrassed. “Laf, as much as I’m totally for you reassuring your boyfriend that I am not going to make a move, could you not have done it without bringing up random kinks of mine that really you shouldn’t even know.” 

John didn’t know whether he should laugh at the strange conversation unfolding in front of him or cry out of embarrassment. Instead of either, he pushed away from the table and his almost untouched brunch. “Maybe I should go put a shirt on.” 

Gil caught his wrist before he could stand and looked at him with concern. “Is everything alright, Pequeña? You haven’t touched your brunch yet, really. I apologize for not warning you about Herc. He doesn’t bite, I swear.” The soothing circles he was rubbing into his inner wrist seemed to be clearing away the anxiety that was threatening to rise in John. 

“I’m sorry if I’m acting strange. I was just caught off guard is all. Maybe just a little warning next time,” John finally conceded, pulling his chair back in towards the table. Gil kissed his knuckles before relinquishing his hand and letting them go back to eating. There was some small talk and some stories about Gil that made everyone laugh. The ice was thoroughly broken by the time the dishes were cleared away. 

“I am glad you are getting along so well. You two need to exchange numbers. That way, if I’m away on business or for some reason can’t reach you, you two can connect. Besides, he needs to take your measurements and give you a briefing for the potential dangers of dating a billionaire.” John’s eyes snapped up to Gil’s as the words left his mouth. 

“Briefed? And measurements for what?” John was confused and tired and a tiny bit hungover still. It made him feel testy and petulant. Gil obviously picked up on his mood and guided him onto his lap to cuddle him. John didn’t want to say that it comforted him or admit that his mood did feel a little better when he was in his lap, but it was at least obvious to everyone in the room. 

Herc ended up explaining before Gil could, “It’s really nothing major. The briefing is mostly because when Laf first got here the paparazzi were horrendous to all of his partners. It’s mainly just say you know what to say if you get approached by someone. It’s also to talk about how to keep you safe: what information you get to know, what to do if someone approaches you, how to get into the apartments and safe houses, ect. The measurements are because I custom make all of Laf’s suits and if you are going to be his plus one, you will need a coordinating suit. If all that is too much for today, we can reschedule. If you need time to think about it or if this is too much, that’s also acceptable and I can leave you two alone to discuss it.” 

“No,” John said after a beat of silence. He heard from his curled up position on Gil’s lap both men’s breath catch in their throats. He didn’t mean to make them nervous but his mind was moving faster than his lips. After a heavy pause, he tried again. “No, I’m here to stay. We can do all that now.” He felt and heard Gil let go of the breath he had been holding and wrap his arms around John a little tighter. John realized then that Gil had been terrified in that moment of losing him. He understood a little better what Alex meant when he’d said these men had a hard time forming personal connections because of their wealth. “You’re going to stay with me right?” John asked looking up at Gil. 

“Of course, Querido. I’m here whenever you need me.” And with that, the three got to work. 


	13. Chapter 13

“What the heck is his job even?” Alex’s eyes were wide as John finally got to sit down and give him the bare bones story how his first date had gone the week prior. They were at their same place, the same way they had done for three years, but the tone in the air was different. John realized that for the first time in as long as he could remember, they both had something almost completely in common to talk about AND they were both positive. It felt fantastic. 

“You’re going to hate this, but I am literally not allowed to tell you. Herc made me sign a bunch of papers and taught me all the right phrases to respond to the press with. He said it will be more relevant after the first time I am seen with him in public since for now we have been private about everything and people thankfully don’t follow him around looking for stories too much anymore. It’s been both a dream and a nightmare: like dating on steroids. He’s pretty much perfect for me though, and he makes me want to make him proud. I see why you like this so much.” 

“Well, damn. And I thought dating a senator was rough. I would make a joke about how I am always right, and you should definitely tell me that more often, but I am just genuinely excited to see you so happy. We should all go to dinner soon. I would say we could do a club repeat, but George would NOT be happy with that,” Alex was sighing into his espresso. 

“You mean he didn’t have a good time?” John asked. He had yet to hear how his friend’s night had gone, but had found it unusual in retrospect that Alex hadn’t contacted him at all until he had come home late after night class the next day. Alex was currently laughing at John’s question. 

He launched into his story. “My George is many things: a scholar, a philanthropist, a good citizen, etc. One thing he is not is a good dancer. And one thing he hates more than anything is being out of his comfort zone. I knew that going into that crazy scheme of mine, which totally worked regardless of how he felt about the night or whether a ‘nice dinner’ would have had the same effect in his opinion, but I digress. Between the clothes and the night club atmosphere, he was feeling a little on edge. It didn’t help that I decided it would be a good idea to give him a lapdance right there at the table, but he should have known that I have limited impulse control, and he just looked SO hot. Off topic again: OK, so he goes to the bathroom, y’all show up at the table, blah. George shoots down all my fun topics of conversation for his touchy feely get-to-know-yous. Whatever. So then we leave and the driver takes us home. I start to send you a text to see how it’s going, and he starts kissing me. And I mean like KISSING, kissing. So I’m distracted and, no offense, completely forget about texting you. We simmer down, make it to bed. George is in the bathroom so I find my phone. I am about to text you again when he comes in, sees the phone in my hand and BAM we are at it again. It’s like that all night long. I didn’t even realize that he was distracting me from bothering you until we had been up all night and he had to drop me off at class and I left my phone in his car. Then it was apparently my fault that he was up all night, and I had to show up at his office to make it up to him, if you know what I mean. So long story short: we had a fucking amazing time but he said if I ever pull a stunt like that again, he’s going to tie me to the bed and never let me leave again. I said that didn’t necessarily seem terrible, but then he gave me that look that basically meant it would totally be terrible, so I’m not willing to push it. So dinner would be better, yes.” 

John had laughed his way through the entirety of Alex’s story. Alex was animated: almost like he was giving a performance, and John was so content to just let him talk like that because in his busy schedule and life changing, he had missed his friend. When Alex finally wrapped up and decided on dinner, John had his phone pulled out with the master schedule pulled up. “Ok, when do we want to do dinner then?” he asked looking for free spots in between all the colored blocks. 

“Holy shit, that is intense,” Alex commented as he slipped into the seat beside John so that they could plan. 

“It’s actually pretty ingenious once you get used to it. It’s an interactive calendar app that I found out Gil developed himself for himself before he released a more simplified version to the public. You should see the master app on his tablet. So when are you and George free?” John really didn’t feel like trying to talk Alex through how to use the app so he diverted most of the questions about it. When Alex brought up the idea of a more dignified version of last week, John unfortunately had to decline, noticing an in office meeting that was on the schedule for that night. Gil had mentioned that it was going to be a douzy and an ‘all hands on deck’ kind of meeting with someone in Russia. The block set aside for it was around 6 hours. John cringed and set a reminder for himself to text Gil a good luck message. 

They went through a few more time ideas until they found one that should work for everyone: an early dinner on Saturday followed by drinks at George’s favorite bar. John typed in the event details and hit submit. Within moments, Gil had accepted the event and sent John a message asking him to tell Alex he said hello followed by another text that said that George wanted to remind Alex that he had class in 15 minutes. That was followed by yet ANOTHER that said George was also excited for dinner. Alex shot up at the reminder of class. John picked up their stuff, responded to all three of his boyfriend’s messages, and followed Alex out the door to make sure they got to their classes on time. 


	14. Chapter 14

Lafayette was surprised at how _normal_ being a sugar daddy felt to him. When he was sitting at his desk texting John, he never felt like he _had_ to give John anything that was out of what a normal couple might do if they had the opportunity. Laf just had more resources than most people did. So he could have things delivered to John whenever he pleased and he never had to worry about the expense or the quality. It felt nice to have someone there to take care of him as well. The last week had been spent really feeling each other out: testing limits and seeing where compromises would have to be made. They both decided that to start, they would only spend three nights a week together so that the other four they would have time for themselves if they needed it. This week they flipped the number to four together and three apart, realizing that they had been a little lonely with four nights apart. George had laughed when he’d talked with Laf about it, making a bet that by the end of the semester, John would be moved into his personal apartment. Apparently, at their group dinner he was going to ask Alex to move into his house so John would be finding a new place anyways. 

Laf couldn’t imagine something like that, not because he didn’t want to live with John someday, but because John hadn’t even seen his apartment yet. They had stayed in his because it was closer to campus for him and more familiar. Laf wondered if John would want to switch it up that night. It was a Friday, so he wouldn’t have to worry about class. His volleyball matches were not until Sunday. Laf checked his own schedule. There were a couple of meetings on his plate tomorrow as well as dinner with George and Alex, but he had a couple of assistants who had asked about bonuses that he could probably assign to the meetings. He shot Herc a text, and as per usual he was in Laf’s office before he really even looked up from his phone. “What’s up, sir?” he had a seat. 

“Tell me about Jefferson, Madison, and Knox. Do they work hard?” Laf asked, trying to decide who to give the two promotions to. 

Always one to read his mind, Herc asked, “Looking for someone to cover the meetings tomorrow, sir? I would recommend Jefferson to the evening one. He works hard and speaks passable French in case he has to work with that Louis guy again. Madison is a very hard worker for a future promotion, but he has been out sick the last few days. Knox is older, but would probably do just fine with the early meeting. If all that is to your liking, I can send out the emails presently.” 

“You truly are too good for me, Herc. Will you also schedule a Get Well Soon basket to be delivered to Madison?” Laf was looking at their meetings for the next month to make sure that all of his travel plans were in order. “I’m taking my personal jet to these meetings, right?” 

“The basket is set to be delivered tomorrow, the emails have been sent, and of course, sir. Before you ask, I checked with John, and he does indeed have an up to date passport.” Herc laughed when his boss did a double take from his tablet to him. 

“I don’t recall saying anything about John,” he said flatly, but Herc knew he was joking when he stuck his tongue out like a petulant child. “But it is nice to know that maybe he could go with me on some of the weekend trips people keep scheduling.” 

“Sir, I don’t think I need to remind you of this, but you make your own schedule. How long has it been since you actually took a vacation? Like 10 years right? I know you like to run a tight ship, but you have built this business up so much that it could all be run from your tablet. If you don’t want to take a break, I understand. But just know that the option is there.” Herc truly was the best assistant and friend that he could have asked for. He sat down his tablet and looked him in the eye. 

“Herc, could I bounce some ideas off of you? They are more personal than business minded, so I don’t want to take up more of your time than necessary if you have something you need to tend to.”

“I’m always here to be a sounding board, Laf. Is this about John?” Herc’s tone had slipped from his crisp professionalism to a more friendly tone. His body language shifted, too, as he became more relaxed and interested in listening. 

“Oui. We’ve gotten through the first week and just this morning decided that we were going to up the amount of nights together to four nights instead of three. I was thinking of inviting him to my apartment for the first time tonight. Do you think that would be weird? I kind of want it to be special. I can’t remember the last time I had someone other than you, George, or Adrienne there,” Laf thought about it hard as he was saying the words. Any one night stands he had in the last 15 years were in hotels. His apartment was his space. Maybe that is why he was so nervous about letting John in. 

“I know that is a big step for you, but I think John will appreciate it. He has been asking me if you always work this hard. I told him that this was an easy week, but he didn’t seem amused. Don’t get me wrong: I can see you’re about to panic. He is very happy. He and I are getting along swimmingly, so he tells me how he feels about you, and it is all good for now. I think he’s just worried about you overworking yourself. Which is coincidentally what Adrienne and I have been telling you for years. I’m glad to see you figuring out how you can have all day with him tomorrow as well. What are your ideas?” Herc was fiddling with his personal phone while he was talking. They all had a personal and a business line so that nothing would get confused and so that they could limit their involvement in business outside of business hours. This applied to everyone but Laf who tended to be involved in business as long as he was awake. 

“I was thinking of maybe just pampering him for the night. So I would make dinner, we could eat there, I could show him around, and put the focus on him. He’s finishing up a test right around now, so I know he’s going to be a little tired this evening,” Laf could tell that while it was a good idea, Herc wasn’t thrilled. 

“With all due respect, Laf, when is the last time you treated yourself? Other than ‘finding John was a treat in itself’ because if you try to give me that shit, I will call John right now and tell him you are totally overworking and now is a great time to try throwing a tantrum.” Laf looked at him incredulously but didn’t doubt his words. When he was met with no response, he continued, “What about that spa you like? Go tonight and get a couples massage. You’ll both thank me for it later. I swear, I’m going to tell Adrienne that she and I are going to have to start scheduling dates for the two of you don’t drive John crazy with how him oriented you can be sometimes. What time do you want dinner tonight?” 

“No later than 8, please.” When Herc went into scheduling mode, it was best to just let him go with it. Laf leaned back and waited for the familiar ding of an event being added for his approval. Within moments there were two: one pink box appearing for a couples massage and another pink box for dinner. Laf immediately approved on his end. He was surprised to see that John had also approved within moments of it being posted. A text appeared following that. ‘Is Herc going to schedule all of our dates from now on? Cause I like how he thinks ha ha.’ 

Laf admitted to Herc that maybe he was on the right track with the date ideas. Herc laughed openly. Another text from John popped up. ‘By the way, I think I aced the test. I think that might deserve a reward. ;)’ 

He quickly responded, ‘Of course, Querido. I left something for you in your room that I hope you will like. How about you come to my place tonight after dinner so I can really reward you though.’ 

The first response he got was all exclamation points, but it was followed by a text with actual words. ‘I would love to spend the night over there. What all do I need to bring?’ 

He smirked at his phone as he typed out his response. ‘You literally do not need to bring anything but yourself. Let me take care of you.’ Herc questioned him from the couch, “Laf, you look like you’re up to something. Please tell me this is a good mischief.” 

“Only the best, my friend. I’m seducing my boyfriend.” The eye roll he got in response only made him laugh. “Can you get someone to pick outfits out for a nice dinner for me and John and have them delivered to the apartment tomorrow by 2?” 

John’s response finally came in. ‘Whatever you say, Papi. See you soon, ;)’ 

Herc stood and approached Laf’s desk. “I will pick them out and deliver them myself. Do you need any leisure clothes while I’m at the studio? Also, sir, I’m not leaving until you take the rest of the day off for yourself, so you might as well get your stuff together.” Laf hadn’t brought much to the office that day. “No, we won’t be needing any clothing for the things I have planned.” 


	15. Chapter 15

John was still riding the natural high from passing the test with flying colors when he got back to his apartment. He had checked the schedule and saw that Herc had scheduled a date night. It was easy to approve immediately. Over the last week, things had been moving at a breakneck speed. John hadn’t really known what excitement or being busy was like until he had taken the leap to start dating what he had come to find was the most successful businessman in the world. Not top 50. Not top 10. The number one. And it was a big secret so that Gil would stay safe. There were a lot of rules and secrets that had come along with that. At first it had been overwhelming, John wasn’t afraid to admit. But with very few stumbles, he had caught up. He knew how to deal with the press (in theory, it had only been a very private week so he hadn’t had to test that yet), Herc was making him dress the part (he had literally never gone to class as well dressed as he did now), and most importantly he had gotten to know Gil better and knew how to navigate his life so that he could be an asset. Herc had added him to a private group chat with himself and Adrienne that was basically so they could make Gil stop when he was working too hard. Through that, both of them had proven to be charming and charismatic, and John was already considering them fast friends. The things that John cherished most so far though were his nights alone with Gil. They didn’t get much sleep, whether they were in the throes of passion or just talking to one another about their lives and their likes and dislikes or what their favorite Tim Curry movie was (Gil insisted that was really all you needed to know about someone) they had come to deeply understand each other. And it made all the debriefing and security and stress worth it. 

Before he could find his gift to unwrap it and see what Gil was up to, the group message started to blow up on his phone. 

**The Secret Service**

**Herc:** John, I’m picking you up for the massage. Will you be ready by 5? I just sent Laf home. He was panicking about the cleanliness of his already immaculate apartment. 

**Adrienne:** OOoo. Massages before date night. You ought to be nice and limber. Have you opened your gift yet? 

**Herc:** I don’t think I want to know what it is. 

**Adrienne:** You probably don’t. I don’t know exactly what it is but since I run the financials and have met Gilbert a time or two, I have a general idea. 

**Herc:** I thought you only did company financials? He didn’t buy it on the company card, right? 

**Adrienne:** I made him sign me onto his personal financials after that one time he tried to run away to the Caribbean and we lost him for a month. 

**Herc:** Ah. You are the smartest woman I know. 

**John:** Just got home. Passed my test! Excited about date night. Confused about him running away? Frustrated because I can’t FIND the gift, much less open it. 

**Herc:** Knew you were gonna nail that test! Congrats! Don’t worry about the running away thing. He was in a self-admitted bad place. Won’t/can’t do it again. 

**Adrienne:** You are too smart for him, John. Honestly, what is drawing you to him? Oh wait, it’s the abs isn’t it. *smiling devil emoji* It was when he was younger. No need to worry about it. Did you check the bathroom? 

**John:** Why would it be in the bathroom? 

**John:** Found it. 

John looked at the box on the counter questioningly. It was beautiful, a black box with a white ribbon wrapped around the outside. He had signed it with a flourish in red ink, “XOXO, Papi.” John couldn’t figure out why he had left it in the bathroom though. _‘Unless,’_ realization hit John like a freight train and he blushed even though there was no one around to be embarrassed in front of. A few nights ago, they had been fooling around when Gil had made them stop to talk about sexual fantasies and things they might want to explore. They had stumbled upon the mutual daddy kink on accident but quickly found out that many of their kinks lined up well, and that they would at least not have to worry about getting sexually bored with one another. John hadn’t expected something of that nature so quickly, but with how fast everything else had been moving, it made sense. 

He unwrapped the gift slowly, drawing out the ribbon until it naturally fell away from the box before opening it. Inside, wrapped in what felt like silk, was a note that was folded to cover the actual contents of the box: a set of butt plugs of increasing size with a based that was covered in a gemstone. John looked at them, admiring how they felt in his hands before looking at the note. Gil had left a very detailed description of what he would like to do to John as well as asking John to wear whichever plug he was most comfortable with to dinner that night in preparation for the night to come. The letter finished, _‘Get ready, Querido. It’s going to be a long night. XOXO, Papi.’_


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look maybe there is a plot *Angelface Emoji* *Author Sweating*

Laf was sitting in his living room looking everything over for the 75th time it seemed that day. He knew that the kitchen had been scrubbed down. He had watched the window cleaner at work and set a hearty tip to the front desk of the apartment complex for them. He had picked up his room: made sure there wasn’t a bottle of cologne out of place, changed the sheets twice because the first set was ok but the second ones would look better with John’s skin tone, put away and out of sight the work he had brought home and left out on the desk in his room. He had set the fireplaces to turn on at about 15 minutes before they were set to come home from dinner. He was agonizing over whether 68, 69, or 70 degrees was a good temperature to set the thermostat to when he heard his phone go off somewhere in the apartment. He turned away from the thermostat, frowning. John had texted him earlier to say he was going to take a nap to get ready to be up all night, and Laf had learned that John was serious about his naps. Herc wasn’t set to be there for another hour, which reminded him he needed to hop in the shower and get ready. First though, he needed to find his phone. 

He retraced his steps as best he could throughout his apartment. When he finally made his way into his office, his phone was ringing from his desk. He picked up quickly without looking at the caller ID. It was his personal line, not his business one. “Hello?” he asked questioningly into the receiver. 

“Marie-Joseph. It’s good to hear that you haven’t switched private lines.” The voice was cracked and old, dripping with sarcasm and malice. It was a voice he hadn’t heard in ages to felt like and yet, it was intimately familiar. 

“How the hell did you get this number?” Laf growled. He didn’t need this. He had dropped this _business_ as part of his past that he had no desire to revisit. There was a laugh from the other end of the line, but in no terms was it friendly. 

“Oh Marie, is that any way to talk to your Pere? Cherie, after taking care of you for so long, I would have never thought you had this malice for me! You were mine when you left, and don’t think I won’t retrieve my property, love. We can work out the intricacies or our, ah, _relationship_ later. I was actually calling on business, but your secretary, Mulligan, has managed to keep me blocked out.” The voice was as grating on his nerves as it was enticing. 

He should have hung up the phone. He should have called Herc and told him that _**he**_ had found out how to contact Laf again and they would need to up security. But something was gluing the phone to his ear. He felt as if he couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. It was as if the voice on the other end could see him. “Oh Marie, you always looked so pretty when you were glued to the spot. Glued to my voice. I always wondered if it was fear or fascination. It’s been too long. When you ran away from me, from your country, you were so young and I thought I had lost you forever. But through mutual business I was blessed to stumble upon you again. Now, you have a job. One of your shipments is about to be attacked by pirates. Those pirates can be bought off. They only want the red gems on the ship. You’ll need to call your captain and tell him that bit of bargaining information or everyone on that ship will die. I’m sure that you wouldn’t take a huge hit from that, but I’ve been told that you mourn the loss of any pawns you use along the way. I would hate for someone other than me to make you weep.” 

“They aren’t pawns: they are people. Each one is important and has their own life and unlike everyone else in any of the businesses I compete with, I actually learn their names and their lives and I care. Now what was the price I’m paying for the information you thrust upon me? I’ve learned that nothing is free in this line of work.” Laf was spitting into the phone. He had pulled his family’s business out of the dredges of dark corruption that his dad had landed them in, and had only strayed from the light a handful of times in his time owning his companies. He had no desire to fall back into that, but this decision had been thrust upon him by someone he had spent his adult life running from. 

“When I come to collect, you’ll know. Talk to you soon, Marie.” The line went dead. Laf collapsed onto the ground, all the tension that was holding them ramrod straight dissolving into what might be the beginnings of a panic attack. There was still time before Herc would be there to get him before they both went to get John. _John_. Laf hit his speeddial 1. It was night in France, but Adrienne answered immediately. “Hey, lover boy. Getting ready for date night?” She asked chipper until she heard Laf sob. “Oh my god, mon coeur, what’s wrong?” 

“ **Il** a appelé. **Il** m’a trouvé. What do I do? I thought… Nous devons accroître la sécurité immédiatement. You’re the closest to the last place I knew he was so I called you first,” He was pulling himself together as he mentally reassured himself that they had measures for this. Adrienne never asked messy questions which is why she had always been his second in command. Instead, her voice was muffled shouting to her assistant to “Sécuriser les motifs!” and was running through the safety protocol for Laf. “I will call Herc. You need to call John and stay on the line with him until security gets into place around his apartment. Don’t worry, I won’t tell Herc who the threat is, just that there is a potential threat. Vous aurex à lui dire finalement, l’amour.” 

She was of the line without another word. She was a blessing to him, and although she was right, he had no desire to expose his past mistakes to Herc. Instead of thinking about it or the situation at hand he hit the button under his desk that secured the apartment and connected to his houses wireless phone network. “Call John,” he said to the system before it had a chance to greet him. _’Calling John Laurens,’_ the automated system faded into the normal sound of a call being placed. As John answered, Laf stepped into the bathroom to freshen up. It was just good that he was an expert at multi-tasking. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations in this chapter:  
> Il a appelé. Il m’a trouvé. : He called. He found me.  
> Nous devons accroître la sécurité immédiatement. : We need to increase security immediately.  
> “Sécuriser les motifs!” : Secure the grounds!  
> Vous aurex à lui dire finalement, l’amour. : You’re going to have to tell him eventually, love (This one was rough! Sorry about that)


	17. Chapter 17

At first John couldn’t figure out why he was awake. He had let all of the relevant people in his life know that it was nap time. He set his phone on ‘Do Not Disturb’ with an alarm, but the precursory look he had taken in the general direction of the clock said that he still had an hour and a half before Herc would be there to get him. Someone had woken him up from a nap that he had 30 minutes left of. Through his grumbles, he realized that there was only one number programmed to cut through the peace of the ‘Do Not Disturb’ function. He scrambled to hit answer. “Papi, you know I was napping,” He exaggerated the whine in his voice and heard Gil chuckle in response. There was another undertone to the chuckle that John heard that sounded kind of like … relief? “Is everything ok?” 

There was a pause on the other end before he heard a begrudging response, “Yeah, Querido. It’s all gonna be fine. You remember Herc going on and on about safety measures? Apparently, someone made a threat today so we are going on security level one. That means that as soon as Adrienne gets a hold of Herc, he’s sending a security team to your apartment. Is Alex there, too?” 

If there was something hidden in the lines of what Gil said that would explain why his tone was so… off, John couldn’t find it to dissect it. Instead of the unproductive anger he felt bubbling up at only being told half the story, he channeled it into concern. “Alex is with George to my knowledge. Are you ok? Do we need to cancel tonight? This isn’t lockdown levels is it?” His mind, still sleep addled, was going through the dark possibilities of what could cause a lockdown. He heard a sink turn on over the line, and had the passing thought that Gil had to have the best speakerphone in the world for there to be no feedback across the lines. 

Luckily, Gil’s voice cut through all of his thoughts. “Oh hell no. If this was lockdown level, someone would have already had you in a van on the way to one of the safe houses we have hidden,” he laughed but it seemed forced and John couldn’t figure which part of that statement he had been joking about, if any. “This is like a midlevel threat so we are taking some precautions. That means that Herc will be joining us for dinner and staying the night in the guest room. I’m pissed because I had so much planned for the night, and now we will probably end up just cuddling and watching a movie, but I was so excited to see… OH, right… You open your gift yet? I hope it wasn’t too much too soon, but I couldn’t stop thinking about how you’d look in them,” he was rambling in a seductive tone. John wondered if he was unconsciously changing the subject, but he definitely was down for this conversation. 

With what he hoped was a reassuring and hot hum, if hums could be hot, he responded, “Of course, Papi, they were beautiful! I’m sad that I won’t get to wear one for you tonight then,” a wicked idea came to John then, “Oh, but Papi, I could bring them and wear one to dinner tomorrow with George and Alex. It could be out little secret.” 

The groan that came from the other end of the line was enough to tell him he’d made the right decision. “God, you are so naughty, John. The things I will do to you.” There was a pause as the water turned on and off in the background again. “Sorry, I was getting ready. In all honesty, I’m so excited to see you. I know I just saw you this morning, but with _**him**_ managing to get hold of my number, I won’t be able to stop worrying until you’re back in my line of sight.” 

Before John could ask who ‘he’ was and why there was so much malice in Gil’s voice or why ‘him’ calling was such a threat, there was a pounding on the apartment’s front door. Gil must have heard it through the phone. “That must be security. OK, bear with me now. You need to go to your door and say exactly what I tell you. If they don’t give you the appropriate response, you hit the deck, and I conference call Herc.” 

John felt his chest tense. He had been trained for this, but, God, he never expected he would need that training. Gil continued, “I know it’s probably really scary the first time, but I promise it’s for your safety. I would never put you in harm’s way, love. Now ask them, ‘Are you here for the dairy?’ and if they don’t respond, ‘No, it’s the plumber and I have come to fix the sink,’ then it’s not my men. You can do this, baby. You’re doing so well.” 

John did exactly as Gil said, and once the response phrase was said, the security guard was allowed in. She was beautiful and intimidating all at once. She introduced herself as Peggy and told John she was going to secure the apartment and then let the other guards scoping the building know that everything was fine. While she was doing that, John focused back on Gil. “You did so, so well mon amour. Herc is trying to reach me so I’m going to have to switch lines now that you’re safe. I’m excited to see you. You’ll love Peggy. Will you be ok until we get there or do you want me to come earlier?” John hated how there were possibly current threats to Gil’s life but he was still so concerned about John’s well-being. He reminded himself that was why he had to care double for Gil: the man had no concerns for his own safety. 

John poured emphasis into a double entendre that had the desired effect of relieving the tension in Gil’s voice, “Well, Papi, you can come _whenever_ you’d like. But I will be fine. You be safe too, and tell Herc I said hi. See you soon!” With a snort and assurance from Gil, John hung up and went to see if Peggy was a tea or a coffee person. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact, we used to have to do that exact exchange (about the dairy and the plumber) at my baby sitters house when I was really young. It's all fun and games until someone doesn't say the phrase right.


	18. Chapter 18

“Herc lets you work security?” The surprise in John’s voice was evident. He and Peggy were sitting in the living room getting to know each other. Apparently, she had been assigned to be John’s personal security the day after he had signed all the ‘I’m Now Dating A Billionaire’ forms. She had been given him a copy of his normal schedule and address, but nothing else about him. However, as Herc’s girlfriend, she had heard all kinds of fun stories so far. John wanted to be embarrassed, but she obliterated that by telling him stories about Herc and Gil that he had never heard. They apparently used to be younger and much wilder. Who knew? 

Peggy scoffed at John’s question. “Herc doesn’t _‘let me’_ do anything. I choose what to do and then work my way up the chain just like everyone else. He has his qualms about the dangers of my job, but my concern about his outweigh his about mine every time, so he doesn’t bring it up often because it’s a losing battle. Besides, as long as I’m a good girl in the bedroom, I can get away with anything in public.” She winked as John choked on his tea. “Oh, sorry, I just assumed by the butt plugs on the bathroom counter that you and Laf had the same type of relationship.” 

John regained his bearings. Why did he surround himself with people who were so open and _chatty_ about their sex lives? “He and I are figuring out what we like. But, yes, he, um, tops?” 

Peggy just laughed, and while normally he would be offended because of his awkwardness, but something about her laugh was contagious and the awkwardness dissipated. “Ok, so on a safer topic of conversation, could I take your cup to the kitchen? My roommates boyfriend would kill me if I let a cup sit too long and there was a ring on the table.” 

“Oh, do you mean George and Alex? George loves me so you could just say it was my fault and he would look the other way,” She supplied sunnily. John looked at her with suspicion. “How do you know Alex and George?” 

She rolled her eyes, “Other than the obvious answer: through work? Alex was my foster brother. He lived with me and my two sisters in his formative teenage years. He doesn’t come home very often, but dad makes him come home for Thanksgiving. This year, he asked if he could bring George. Since I am bringing Herc, Daddy obviously said yes to Alex. It’ll be interesting to see what Daddy has to say about George’s age. But I digress. I know Alex very well.”

John could only marvel for a moment how small the world was when everyone was connected in such a large city. Peggy had gotten a notification in the discreet earpiece she was wearing and was ushering John towards the door. “Ok, the boys are here in the car. There is apparently some paparazzi out there, but don’t worry too much about them. Do you have everything?” 

John was about to say yes and hurtle out into the evening, when he remembered their plan for dinner the next night. Slipping past Peggy into the room, he grabbed the plug he wanted and threw it into his backpack, leaving the note and the rest on the counter. Slinging his backpack over his shoulder, he let Peggy lead him out of his apartment. Some guy with a camera almost got his fingers broken by Peggy when he grabbed John’s arm, but other than the slight misstep, he made it to the car just fine, Peggy slipping into the passenger seat as John slid into the backseat. Herc was driving and said something to John that John didn’t hear because Gil had pressed him against the door he had just gotten in and was kissing him like he had died and come back to life. John indulged him for a moment but then slowly and reluctantly pulled away. “I’ll be here all night, Papi, what’s the occasion?” 

Gil shook his head almost sadly and pulled John into his side burying his face in John’s curls. “Missed you. Was worried. Good luck getting me to let you go,” he mumbled into his head. John hummed contentedly and just let him have that moment. He would do anything if it made him feel better. 


	19. Chapter 19

Laf tried his best to relax into the massage. He and his boyfriend were being pampered by some of the best masseuses in the city while Herc went to get them some relaxing clothes for the night and some sort of Italian take out. In theory, he should be calm. Yet every time the masseuse made him let go of John’s hand, he felt panic bubbling back up inside him. Worst of all, he could tell that John could tell that something was up. John would never make him explain anything he didn’t want to, and Laf knew that. But he also didn’t like the thought of keeping him in the dark. “Sir, please relax or the next few pushes might hurt.” 

Laf took a deep breath and cleared his mind. He was going to have a quiet night in with some of his favorite people while his security team made sure that they stayed safe. No one could get into his apartment without his knowing. Herc had already gotten him a new number and updated all of the phones. Word had gotten to the boats soon enough to save the crew. Breathe in. Breathe out. John squeezed his hand, giving him a look to ask if he was ok. Laf ran his thumb over John’s knuckles reassuringly. They both relaxed on the tables, lost in thought and the comfort of the massage. 

Herc was early to pick them up, and dropped off their clothes so that they could change out of the towels they had been given when it became obvious that Herc had already packed up the clothes they arrived in. Laf and John thanked the masseuses and split to go to different rooms to put on the clothes that Herc brought them. Laf was used to his leisure clothes: loose light colored sweatpants, tight black tee shirt, and tennis shoes. He hadn’t gotten to see what Herc had made for John, however, so when John came out of the changing room, Laf was a little star struck. Herc had asked John when he felt the most comfortable, and John had responded that he was always the most comfortable right after a winning volleyball game. That particular thought must have been the inspiration for John’s leisure activity outfit coordinated with Laf’s in color. He was wearing tight black short shorts with a white off the shoulder sweatshirt and tennis shoes. Such a simple outfit shouldn’t look so hot, but Laf was having a hard time looking anywhere but John. John wrapped his arms around Laf and buried his face in his shoulder. “Papi, you’re staring. Do I look ok?” 

“There is literally nothing on this planet that looks as good as you do, Pequeña.” John blushed against Laf’s chest. Herc rolled his eyes. “The food is in the car. You boys ready to go home?” 

John tugged out of the embrace and pulled Laf behind him. Herc stopped them before they stepped out the doors to the spa. “Oh, I almost forgot. News has apparently been slow this week. There are quite a few cameras out here. Don’t say anything to them, but do smile so that whatever bullshit stories they spin will at least be positive.” 

Laf groaned. He was not in the mood for press of any kind. John tutted and tapped his face. “Now, now. Herc just told us to smile, and here you are with such a sour expression.” He kissed Laf soundly. It was slow and passionate. The kiss grounded Laf’s thoughts, pulling him fully into the present and shaking his sour mood. John gave him a ridiculous over exaggerated smile before grabbing his hand and kissing it, too. “Let’s give them something to talk about, Papi.” With that the doors opened and Herc was whisking them out, hand in hand. 

Laf switched his grip from John’s hand to his waist when an over excited reporter grabbed at John to get him to look towards her. He had forgotten how blinding the flashes on the cameras could be and could only imagine the discomfort John was facing. He would have to warn him to be ready to see his face in the tabloids with some shitty and usually untrue caption, and how disconcerting that could be the first few times you were standing in a random checkout line. Herc finally got them to the car. As the door shut and the overly tinted windows rolled up, Laf breathed a sigh of relief. John leaned over and started to rub his shoulders. “Hey big guy, you doing ok?” 

Laf should be asking John that, not the other way around and shame clouded his features. “I’m fine, Pequeña. I’m just really ready to get home and cuddle. How are you holding up?” 

John spoke as he brushed his fingers across his cheek. “I’m honestly worried.” 

Laf’s heart leaped into his throat. He did not want to have this conversation in the car or with Herc or with John. He opted to play dumb. “Why?” 

John looked him in the eye and deadpanned, “What if they didn’t get my good side?” 

The absurdity of the statement mixed with John breaking out in a dazzling smile immediately following was enough to get the both of them laughing. The rest of the car ride was spent with Herc making John google unflattering pictures of Laf that had made it into the tabloids and having Laf try to recreate some of the ‘best’ horrible expressions. 


	20. Chapter 20

Laf’s head hit his pillows with a thud and a groan. The clock said it was some late hour of night. John sauntered in not long after. “Aw. Don’t be a sore loser,” he teased climbing into the huge bed and flopping down on top of Laf. 

“You just better be glad you’re cute. I wouldn’t lose Mario party three consecutive times for just anyone you know,” Laf knew that John’s eye roll meant that he didn’t believe Laf had lost on purpose at all. After the takeout was gone and John had a tour, Peggy and Herc suggested playing a board game. John had joked that he would rather play a video game but if all the ‘old people’ wanted to play a regular one, he guessed that would be fine. Laf had just laughed and said he had a happy medium. He pulled out his Nintendo 64 and the original Mario Party and watched as John lit up like a kid in a candy store. He blew them out of the water at every minigame, except the luck and strategy games where Laf managed to win every time. Altogether it was a good night, but with the roller coaster day they had, Laf was more than ready for bed. 

“Aw, you think I’m cute?” John batted his eyelashes playfully, earning him a swat from Laf. Laf missed hitting him and transitioned into a crushing bear hug. “ACK, Papi, I can’t breathe! You’re killing me!” His words were dotted with smiles and giggles, so Laf continued manhandling him until they were in what he deemed an acceptable cuddling position. Once he was released, John peppered his face with kisses, lacing both hands in Laf’s hair. 

“I think that was a pretty successful date night, don’t you think?” Laf said after John had settled into his embrace and was casually scrolling through his twitter feed on his phone. 

John hummed in response before frowning at his phone. Finally, he looked up to Laf with stars in his eyes. “Holy shit. I just got like 5,000 new followers. What the fuck?” 

“Language, Querido. Your pictures probably got uploaded by the paparazzi. You should probably lock your accounts in the morning. For now, see if you can find the pictures from today!” Laf was nervous about what the picture quality but was at the same time excited to finally be ‘public’ with John. “Ooh, now that the world knows, we could totally do that thing you kids do nowadays and make it ‘Facebook official’ or whatever.” 

John scoffed but switched from Twitter to Facebook anyway. He was fiddling around in his settings looking for the right option while Laf was kissing the back of his neck softly. “You sound just like George. You’ll have to accept it on your end, but I have it set up on mine.” He reached over and fumbled blindly on the nightstand for Laf’s phone. Laf was still kissing him wherever he could reach, and John stopped the barrage by kissing him passionately on the lips before handing his phone. Laf swiped into his phone and logged onto his Facebook page. He accepted the relationship information and then muted notifications for the post. It didn’t take him long to find the pictures of him and John earlier that day. There was one in particular that he saved to his phone. The photographer had caught them immediately after they had stepped out the door, their eyes still locked on each other, still laughing and looking genuinely happy. None of the other pictures were bad, but that was Laf’s favorite by far. John was reading on his phone and his laugh cut through Laf’s thoughts. “Did you see the caption on this one? ‘Billionaire playboy Gilbert Lafayette steps out in the public with a new young fling after years avoiding the public eye.’ Do they always make you out to be so scandalous and old at the same time?” 

“I learned a long time ago that the press is going to assume first and ask questions later, so it is best to soundly ignore what they have to say. Come on, it’s late. Way past your bedtime. We have a busy day tomorrow. Let’s go to sleep,” Laf threw his phone in the general direction of ‘off the bed’ and pulled John back tight against him. John dropped his phone off the bed as well and curled back into Laf. “How long do you think until they figure out my name?” he mumbled into Laf’s chest. Laf nuzzled into his boyfriend’s hair. 

“Well, now that we are official on social media, I would say they already know. Hopefully you don’t have any old dirt you don’t want brought up because they are going to do more than a quick google search. Fortunately, you’re dating a billionaire who can make that go away,” John was giggling at Laf’s words again. Laf could listen to that sound forever. 

John wiggled until he had enough room to lean up and kiss Laf again. After pulling away breathless, John looked into Laf’s eyes, “Sometimes you say things and it sounds like you’re the head of a mob or something.” The smile in his eyes told Laf that his statement was a joke, so Laf chose to not tell John that he used to be involved in that type of business. Luckily John continued. “Well, my dad is not going to be pleased.” 

Laf snorted. “You know, I don’t give a damn about your dad’s pleasure. All I care about is yours.” 

John waggled his eyebrows to insinuate that Laf’s statement had been sexual when he hadn’t really meant it that way. John sobered up and continued though. “Ok, so, I forgot to mention anything about my dad really. And I guess now that we are public, it’s important to mention: my dad is a senator. So, yeah. You might actually know him.” 

Laf took John’s hand and kissed it. “Why are you worried, John? I am very, very much into you regardless of your parentage or past. The only reason I care about those things is because your past is what makes you the present version of you. If I meet your dad, I’ll be sure to shake hands and play nice. For now though, I am in bed with the most beautiful man I know. Would you like to sleep with me?” 

John once again hummed and tucked himself into his boyfriend’s arms. They would inevitably become dislodged throughout the night, but for the moment Laf was content to fall asleep holding John. 


	21. Chapter 21

Someday, Laf would learn how to sleep in. For the moment though, he would do what he normally did which was dislodge from his sleeping boyfriend without waking him, go to the bathroom to brush his teeth and take care of business, plug their discarded phones in, and throw on some sweatpants so that he wouldn’t upset Peggy. She was hard to fluster, but she drew a line in the sand when it came to nudity around her. Before leaving the room to start the coffee if Herc hadn’t don’t that yet, Laf stopped to look at John asleep. He was spread out across the whole bed on his stomach, his legs tangled in the comforter and arms buried between pillows and his face. There were little lines covering his face from sleeping weirdly on the pillows, but his hair hung in a curtain blocking most of them from view. Every time Laf saw John like this, it felt like a herd of butterflies had taken up residence in his chest. He had been right, the sheets were complimentary to his skin tone and even with all of his self-proclaimed flaws, Laf couldn’t think of many things more gorgeous than the way the morning light was illuminating from John’s sleeping form. He grabbed his phone and snapped a picture.

As he predicted, Herc and Peggy were already up in the kitchen. It looked like they had already been in the gym, but more importantly to him, they had already made coffee and, bless him, Herc was already sliding him a cup full across the counter of the kitchen island. “Morning sleepyhead. I’m surprised you weren’t up before now. I’ve never known you to sleep past 8 when you’re home, much less 9. Peggy and I were betting on what time John will drag out, if you would like to join the pool.” 

Peggy laughed and continued to sip her latte. Laf waved his hand dismissively before Herc picked back up the teasing. “So, I guess some congratulations are in order. I hear you and little Laurens are Facebook official. There’s so much speculation going on about who he is and how long you’ve been together since your last public relationship was with Adrienne. The news already called her to see what she knew about your love life and she really played up the distant ex-wife card. Then she called Peggy and laughed her ass of about it, forgetting that even though it was nine AM there, it was still around three AM here. The office of Henry Laurens called wanting us to cease and desist all publicity between the two of you since he is up for reelection. I told them they could kiss your ass, but in business terms of course. I took the liberty of locking and certifying all of John’s social media, so hopefully he won’t get too harassed. Most people are saying positive things. There are very few who are talking about the age gap and asking if he’s using you for money, but go figure. There was only one really negative reaction and it was taken down before I could get to see it. I would assume that going out today, y’all will need to be careful. You need to pick your outfit and then I will lay out John’s for him.” 

Laf communicated in hand gestures so that he wouldn’t interrupt Herc. When he finally finished, Laf only asked what his outfit options were. Peggy groaned and left the kitchen claiming it was still too early for a fashion lesson. Herc stuck his tongue out at her back as she walked away and pulled out his tablet to start showing Laf options. After a moment of basically looking through his own closet on his digital model, he decided to change tactics. “Herc, I have seen all these before, and you know they are all my favorites. Show me John’s outfits and I will pick based on him.” 

Herc smirked and switched to John’s model. He flipped through a few different outfits before Laf’s eyes got huge. “That’s the one.” He was practically touching the screen. 

“You’re a freak, you know that,” Herc laughed at his choice before marking it and it’s corresponding outfit for Laf. 

Laf chuckled. “What can I say? I am a slut for a man in black leather skinny pants and a sweater. Will our hair be up again?” 

Herc nodded. “What about security measures? Are we still on high alert?” Again a nod. 

“Pegs, do you wanna come explain security for tonight to Laf? I promise we are done playing Barbie with Laf and John.” She came trudging back in, but with a smile on her face. She refilled her latte and offered refills to both men at the island. Once they had all gotten more coffee, Peggy launched into her plan for security which as usual seemed flawless. A private corner in the restaurant and security posed as diners all around them at the flanking tables. Sky security on both building tops at each transition point. One of our guys as the bouncer at George’s favorite bar for after dinner. Laf settled into the comfort that nothing was going to go wrong. They would start getting ready around 2. Their dinner had gotten moved to 5 and they expected they would be at the bar by 8 and home by 10. Herc took the opportunity to pull up the schedule and remind Laf that John had a soccer tournament the next day so they would need to actually rest. 

“With John in that outfit?” Laf questioned with a mischievous gleam in his eye, “I’m sure we will get _plenty_ of rest.” 


	22. Chapter 22

John woke up to lips on his neck and a hand caressing his inner thigh while laying on what felt like clouds and considered for a second that he might be dead and in heaven. “Good morning, Querido,” his favorite voice whispered into his ear while gently brushing across his morning wood causing him to gasp. Teeth sunk down near his collarbone and he groaned and thrust up against the hand that was just out of range to provide any type of friction. “Someone is excitable this afternoon.” 

Recognizing Gil’s teasing tone, John whined, “Papi,” he stretched and pushed him away so that he could try to clear away the fog that sleep and lust were creating in his brain. “What time is it?” 

Gil apparently had no intentions of letting him think about anything but the growing need in his boxer briefs. “It’s about 2. We are supposed to be showering and getting ready for dinner according to Herc,” His hands were brushing every sensitive spot on John’s body. John shivered as he sucked on the pulse point near his jawline. “You looked so hot though, I couldn’t help but get distracted while waking you up.” 

John shuffled out of his grip. He would give anything to be back in bed with Gil, but he also knew Herc would flip shit if he didn’t get a shower before going back out in public. Gil was pouting on the bed when John told him as much. “Fine. Don’t forget the most important thing you’re wearing tonight.” When John turned around he saw the plug that Gil had bought and the hungry look on his face. John turned bright red, but responded, “Yes, Papi.” With that he headed to the shower to get ready. 

The shower itself felt amazing on John’s muscles. He was tempted to get himself off, then reconsidered remembering that Gil was definitely waiting for him in the room. With as nice as the shower was, John was in and out as fast as possible with other things on his mind. He was not disappointed when he reemerged into the bedroom wrapped in a towel and saw his boyfriend lounging on the bed. 

The word John wanted to use in that situation was decadent. Laying in the lap of luxury and looking like he belonged there was his very naked Gil. His muscles were prominent even when he was relaxed, and John was having a hard time not drooling over his arms flexed casually behind his head. Then he noticed John staring and he smiled. John thought that it wasn’t fair that even his smile was gorgeous. He opened his arms and made grabby hands towards John. John went and climbed on top of his lap while he sat up against the headboard among the pillows. Before he could ask anything, John leaned down and aggressively kissed him, biting his lower lip to let him deepen the kiss and grinding down on him. Laf let out a strangled moan, not expecting how forward John was being. 

He didn’t get long in charge. Gil took over the kiss with ease, using one hand to collect John’s wrists behind his back and the other to tug on his hair and expose his neck. John gasped at the teeth on his pulse point for the second time that day as Gil worried a mark there before soothing it with his tongue and kissing to his collarbone. He was gently rocking his hips so that he and John would brush occasionally and make them both groan. John was locked into place by his wrists and normally he would squirm and pull free, but the pressure there made him feel oddly safe. So instead he moaned and asked nicely, “Papi, please grab my wrists harder.” 

Without leaning up from his spot on John’s collarbone, he tightened his grip to the point of just a little pain. “Like this Querido?” John moaned and nodded his head emphatically. He was also trying to grind down on Gil, but it wasn’t as affective as he would like it to be. “Tell me what you want, John. Let me take care of you.” 

His words had almost as big of an effect as his grip. John had never found a need to beg, but in this moment he found himself doing it regardless. “Please, Papi, I need you. Fuck me please, please, I’ll do anything.” 

“Anything? What if I tell you you’re not allowed to cum until after dinner? Could you do that, Querido?” Gil’s eyes were full of challenge but it was obvious that he thought that John was going to say no. John thought about his limits. He could make it to ten that night. So instead of backing down, he licked back into Gil’s mouth for another kiss. When he pulled away, he put as much innocence into his voice as possible and bit his lip, “I’d do anything for you, Papi, if you will just fuck me.” 

Just like that, Gil’s composure cracked. John hadn’t realized that he had been playing around with lube already until he felt Gil’s finger at his entrance. “God, John, look at you: bouncing up and down when I’ve only got one finger for you and being such a good boy being willing to do whatever I say.” John hadn’t realized he was begging more until he was shushed. “Don’t worry, Querido. I’ll take good care of you.” With that, there were two more fingers added one at a time until John was almost sobbing from frustration. “If you get too close let me know. You are doing such a good job. Being such a good boy.” With that Gil thrust up into him and John saw stars. His pace was fast, almost bruising, but John never wanted him to stop. 

Apparently his thoughts were leaving his head without his permission. Either that or Gil had developed mind reading capabilities. He was grunting as he thrust up into John, “Don’t worry. Papi is going to fuck you good and hard now and then later when we come home, I promise I will take you apart piece by piece and do it again. God, fuck, John, you’re so good for me. Papi’s good boy.” 

With that, John tensed up and he felt Gil shudder underneath him. John whimpered as he pulled out. He told John to hold still and disappeared in the bathroom for a second. When he came back, he had a wash rag and some type of lotion. Gil had him straddle him again. When he wiped him down, he felt something pressing back against his asshole. He looked at Gil confused before remembering the plug and groaning. He choked back a sob as the plug slid into place causing his still hard cock to twitch from neglect. Gil was saying sweet nothings to him about how he’d done such a good job or was doing such a good job. John just nodded into the crook of his neck and hummed contentedly as he rubbed small soothing circles down his back and thighs. Gil rubbed some lotion into his wrists, and John couldn’t help the small moan that stuck behind his breath from the pressure on what would surely be bruising tomorrow. Gil shushed him again and explained that the lotion was to help relax those muscles and disperse bruising. He kissed his forehead as John mumbled, still in a sex haze, “‘s ok. I like bruises. Feel nice. Remind me of what I can come home to.” 

Once the lotion had been rubbed in everywhere that Gil thought necessary, he pulled John back flush with him to cuddle and called out to his room in general. “Set alarm for 3:30.” John was confused. “Papi, there’s no need to yell, I’m literally right here, and you could have just as…” John was cut off by the female robotic voice that responded. “Alarm set for 3:30 PM.” 

“Well that’s neat,” John mumbled, settling back down on top of Gil. He was still almost uncomfortably hard, but found that he was content to nap with Gil regardless. The plug was settled in him in a way that it wasn’t teasing, just a constant reminder that there was something there. In his boyfriend’s arms, he fell back asleep. 


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter and the next one are SIN. Complete filth. SO if you're not into that, I am sorry. Everyone else, please enjoy John's torture.

If earlier in the day had been heaven, John decided that evening had to be hell. Or maybe just the kinkier, sadistic part of heaven. Did heaven even have a kinky, sadistic side? He wasn’t entirely sure as the line between pain and pleasure kept blurring causing his brain to occasionally short circuit. 

They had arrived at the restaurant with no problems. Herc had warned them that the press was more than likely going to be out in full force, and he had been correct as usual. There were no problems getting through them, though the questions were starting to get more personal going as far as to ask John if his father knew. He and Gil had just smiled and entered the car and then the restaurant. 

Gil had ordered for John since he had never had most of the things on the menu. George did the same for Alex, which John thought was sweet. His mind had been fuzzy since waking up from his nap plugged, and the constant reminder every time he shifted was enough to drive him a little wild, but he was still able to have conversation without anyone knowing any better. Alex kept giving him weird looks, but John figured it had to either be coincidence or something else. There was no way he could know. When dessert wrapped up, the foursome started on cocktails because Herc wasn’t expected to arrive for another 30 minutes. Talk turned to John and Gil. George was the first to bring it up, “News was bustling in the office today as people saw you mentioned online last night, Gilbert. You and John are two of the top searched people on social media right now.” 

Gil chuckled, “George, I thought you had given up doing business on Saturdays. At least the pictures were cute this time. You and Alex will probably get some free press when we leave, so remember to smile. Honestly, they are relentless with following me around.” 

Alex looked pale. While he loved to be heard and out there when he had an opinion, he was more of a wallflower when it came to his private life being made public. Cameras made him nervous, even when John had used him as a model for his photography project. John laid a hand on his reassuringly. “Hey, if they can get a good angle on me, they can definitely find one on you. Don’t worry.” 

Alex scoffed but smiled. “Laurens, we both know you are an Adonis among us mere mortals. You don’t have a bad angle to be found.” Gil had raised his glass at that, and he and Gil clinked their glasses together and laughed. “I’ll be fine. If I get too scared, I can just hide behind Da… er, George. They probably wouldn’t even see me.” 

George patted Alex on the head in a playfully patronizing way. “Even you aren’t that small, Bee. The press see everything. At least maybe now they won’t think Gilbert and I are a couple.” 

“Oh, but those times were so fun!” Everyone at the table other than Gil rolled their eyes, “Speaking of fun, Herc told me that you’ve changed what bar you wanted to go to. What’s the plan for the night then?” 

Alex brightened and started bouncing in his seat. “George and I found a high end nightclub that fit both of our personalities last night! It’s got a dancefloor that goes from traditional dances to today’s hits as well as a sophisticated bar section. We figured we would go back there. You’ll love it.” 

John followed the conversation, but having nothing to contribute stayed relatively silent the rest of the time leading up to Herc getting there. When they got up from the table, Gil wrapped his arms around him from behind and slowed down his walk until they were out of earshot of Alex and George. He nipped at John’s neck from behind. “You ok, Pequeña? You’ve been a little quiet.” 

John gasped when he felt Gil give a small discrete push to where the plug was. It hit his prostate and drug as it shifted, and for a moment John saw stars. “Other than more turned on than I have ever been in my life and now about to walk out in front of a bunch of cameras with a hard on, I’m great, better than actually.” Gil kissed his shoulder and laughed darkly. 

“I can’t keep my thoughts away from our plans later tonight. You’re driving me mad with lust, Querido,” he paused turning to face John towards him with both hands on his shoulders. John could see the lust in his eyes, blown wide, but there was also a bit of concern and hesitation. John could tell he was worried about his comfort. “I have a surprise for you when we get to the club. If at any point you get uncomfortable, you let me know, and I will stop immediately and we can excuse ourselves for a bit to, ah, address the problem.” 

John gave him a chaste, albeit confused kiss on the lips. “Relax, Papi. I’m doing just fine. I’m ready for whatever you have to throw at me.” 

John was eating those words. He was in fact not ready. One second he had been minding his own business, perched precariously on Gil’s lap on a barstool when, “Holy shit.” 

Alex and George looked at him. “Mind your language, John,” George halfheartedly chastised. Alex was grinning like a Cheshire cat, like he had known the whole time that something like this was going to happen. John ripped his eyes away from Alex and found Gil’s. He was looking surprisingly innocent, but the fire was there still. He leaned in close. John hissed out, “You didn’t tell me it vibrated!” 

Gil kissed his cheek. “It’s got 10 settings actually. So if you don't like this one, I could always find another one.” He was smiling when he pulled away from John’s ear to go back to his conversation with George. Something political that they had been talking about before. John couldn’t keep up then, so he didn’t even try currently. He was just starting to adjust to the new sensation when Alex pulled him of Gil’s lap. “Come on, John. You owe me a dance,” there was a wicked gleam in his eyes that told John he was definitely in for it. 

When they got to the dance floor, John was doing a good job of not paying attention to the vibrations. It wasn’t until Alex took the lead in grinding behind him that the plug hit his prostate again and he moaned. His hand clamped over his mouth, and he heard Alex from behind him giggle. “Oh my God, I knew it. You have a plug in out here in public! John! Since when are you so kinky?” 

John blushed and could feel the smirk on Alex’s tone, not even needing to turn around to see it. “I am sure I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he tried to lie. Alex pressed up against him again to much the same effect as the first time. John wanted to ~~cum in his pants~~ sink into the floor as he heard Alex laugh again. 

“Well either you’ve got your phone shoved up your ass and it’s going crazy, or you’ve got a vibrating butt plug in. There’s really no other option,” Alex kept grinding as they were talking and John couldn’t help but push back into Alex. Regardless, before Alex pushed him too far, the vibrations cut off and Gil and George had managed to sneak up on them. John whimpered, but switched to dancing with Gil as George took Alex by the back of the neck. John watched as Alex melted under the touch, mischief hiding below the surface. 

“Alexander,” there was an air of authority in George’s voice that made John shiver even as he continued to speak, “I hope you weren’t being mean to John.” 

Caught, Alex tried to give excuses for his behavior. George wasn’t having it. “Alexander, now you are lying to me. You think I can’t tell when my boy is up to something? You best start behaving or …” His voice had dropped below what John could hear. He and Gil both managed to read George’s lips as he threatened Alex with phrases that looked like ‘plugged’ and ‘gagged’. John had forgotten they were still dancing when Gil spun him around. The music abruptly shifted into a modern tango. Gil lead while John followed naturally. 

“How are you holding up, Pequeña? Still doing ok? You looked a little fuzzy when you were dancing with Alex.” Gil was obviously concerned, but John couldn’t help but admit he was enjoying the slight torture. He had never been so turned on in his life, knowing that someone else held a remote that controlled his pleasure. As he was explaining that to Gil, his eyes were darkening. All of the sudden, the vibrations were back in a different pattern than before, just as Gil spun him to press John’s back to his front. John said a quick prayer to whoever was listening that the time until they were home would go quickly. 


	24. Chapter 24

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy 1st of July! Here's some filth. All negotiations were done off screen I promise. I just really didn't want to write that out. Safe, sane, consensual. There are some BDSM and Dom/Sub undertones and overtones and tones in general so be ready for that (or skip this chapter).

John couldn’t tell Herc goodnight and push him out the door any faster than he did when they got home. He was achingly hard, blindingly horny, and the only thing he could think about for more than about 30 seconds was how much he wanted to be fucked into the first available surface. Once Herc was out the door, John was about to start ripping out of his nice clothes when he heard Gil tut at him in a disapproving manner. With a sadistic grin, he stalked toward John. “Querido, what’s the rush? We have all night. Besides, I haven’t told you the rules for the evening yet.” 

A chill went down John’s spine even though there was no breeze in the perfectly temperature regulated apartment. John slipped into the mindset easily having been on edge and teased for so long. With a slight whine, he dropped to his knees. “Sorry Papi, I’m just so horny. I need it. I need you, please,” he looked up at Gil who had come to crouch in front of him. Seeing that the begging was only earning him caresses to his face and head scratches, still nice but not what John was looking for, he asked the magic question, “What are the rules tonight, Papi?” 

Gil smiled, and John knew that was the right route to take. “Well here’s what I was thinking. Rule one: no touching yourself. Don’t pout, I promised I would take good care of you, and I will. But it will be on my time. Rule two: You can’t cum until you’ve asked for it, _nicely_ , and I have given you permission. Rule three: you have to say exactly what you’re feeling when I ask you to. You said you wanted to work on dirty talk. We are really gonna stress that tonight. You remember your safeword?” 

John nodded. Without any more preamble, Gil scooped him up and carried him to the bedroom. John nosed into his collarbone, placing kisses on his neck where he could reach, and moaned when he was sat on the bed and the plug shifted again. His prostate had to be oversensitive at this point: every small shift and vibration managing to be enough to make him quiver. Gil kissed his forehead, before pulling off John’s sweater, exposing him to the cooler air in the room, and taking off his tie to bind John’s wrists behind his back. The bruises from the night before were just starting to blossom, and the tie was a constant reminder that they were there still. John groaned into the slight pain and rocked his hips down onto the bed, essentially fucking himself on the dildo. 

The motion earned him a swat on the thigh from Gil. It didn’t sting, but it was a reminder of who was in charge and the fact that it was not John. John leaned back on his elbows and bit his bottom lip. Gil, with as composed as he always seemed, was showing signs of breaking. He was fidgety, his eyes were blown and hooded, and his erection showed even through the immaculate folds of his suit. John was sure he could hurry this along if he just found the right words. “Papi, please?” He let his voice hitch through the innocent tone he was using. Gil groaned, and John could see his fists clench and unclench, breaths coming in ragged. 

John thought he had won until he felt the vibrations start anew, and he meweled as his back arched and his head hit the bed. Gil straddled him at the waist and started to kiss him from his lips down to his sternum then back up. Occasionally, his hips would sink low enough that John could grind up, seeking friction of any sort, or he would pull John’s hair or bite in a way that felt good. “How does it feel, Querido?” Gil asked him, not stopping where he was worrying another mark on John’s collarbone with his teeth and tongue. 

John’s brain wasn’t functioning right but he wanted so badly to be good for Gil. The need to please was almost more prominent than his need for release. “Everything feels so good. Your teeth on my neck remind me to be good for you, Papi, and I’m trying but I need… I need, please?” 

“What do you need, John? Be specific.” Gil had his hands on John’s hips now, gripping bruises against the bone and flicking his tongue over John’s nipples. John tried to arch into the touches, but Gil’s grip only got stronger. Over John’s whine, he growled, “Words, baby. Tell me.” 

“Need you to fuck me, Papi, please. I need you to touch me. Need my pants off. Need your tongue, your hands, or _God_ your dick. Anything, please, Gil. I’ve been so close all day. I’m being good.” John almost sobbed as Gil peeled away the tight pants he had been stuck in all night. His hand brushed against his dick and John keened. A chorus of begs fell from his lips before he could stop them until Gil kissed him quiet again. “Shh, I’ve got you, baby. You’re being so good, Querido. Can I touch you?” 

John shot him a look that he hoped would read as something like ‘is that question really necessary?’, and he assumed it had worked because then Gil was leaning down and pulling the plug in and out of him and then his lips wrapped around the head of John’s dick and he wanted to cum so badly, he almost forgot to ask. When he remembered it came out as a yelp. “Please, Papi, please, I need to cum so badly.” 

Gil locked eyes with John, “Was that a question, Querido? You have to ask nicely remember?” Then he was back to just barely licking the tip of John’s dick and pressing on the plug that was still vibrating. With a sob, John figured it out, “Can I please cum, Papi? I’ve been so good, please? May I?” 

“Of course. I’m going to keep going, and you’re welcome to keep cumming. If it get’s too much, you know your word. Papi’s gonna take care of his boy.” And with that he took John to the back of his throat and John world went dark for a moment before coming back in colors that were so vivid they didn’t seem real. Gil was licking him clean and every swipe felt like a jolt to his system. He had never felt so much all at once. He was whimpering. He couldn’t understand the sweet nothings that Gil was saying, but it was comforting and safe and felt amazing even if it was on the verge of too much. 

John enjoyed when Gil picked him up, and gasped when his hand brushed against his still hard dick. Gil chuckled low in his throat and commented on John’s endurance. Something about testing that later. He kissed John although because John was still out of it in a haze he mouthed at his lips before moving on to his neck. “My good boy. Papi is going to fuck you now. Think you’re up for that?” John’s cock twitched at his words. 

John wasn’t aware of what was coming out of his mouth but he hoped it was affirmations that he wanted to be fucked because as soon as Gil had said it that is all his brain could focus on. Gil worked the butt plug out of him. John had never felt so empty in his life and it caused him to whimper again. Gil kissed away the beginnings of tears and lowered John down onto his dick. Even without all of his faculties being obedient, John knew how to roll his hips. He brought himself flush with Gil, filling himself up all the way. Gil was groaning and wasn’t that just the _lovliest_ sound. John went to do it again, but Gil stopped him. “Now, now. I said I was going to fuck you, remember. You just enjoy.” And with that he had his hands on John’s hips and his feet planted on the bed, fucking up into John. 

John lost track of time and words. Gil adjusted the angle so that he was hitting John’s prostate and John came almost immediately. He checked in with John to make sure he was ok, before he continued by switching the position to where they were basically spooning. When Gil got close, he started to jack John off. John sobbed, “Papi, I can’t again. I can’t.” Gil backed off for a second. “Do you need me to stop? Word or color John?” 

John sniffled but managed to get out a full, cohesive phrase, “Green. I’m just so sensitive I can’t tell if it feels amazing or if it hurts or if it’s too much.” He rolled his hips back into Gil again causing them both to gasp and play to resume. “Well, Querido, let me make that decision for you.” He went back to sliding from John’s base to his tip and then twisting over the head. John was so lost in the feelings that he almost didn’t notice his third orgasm of the night. Not long after, Gil let out a soft curse in French and stilled behind him. 

John barely registered that Gil had scoped him off the bed again and was carrying him somewhere. He protested when he was sat down on a cold surface, and Gil came and held him for a second, kissing his forehead and saying … something … in a comforting voice. John didn’t feel like sleeping necessarily, but he could bask in that voice for the rest of his life. Gil chuckled, making John make eye contact with him while he was untying his wrists. “You’re in pretty deep aren’t you, Pequeña?” John whined when his hands left again. He heard water running, and then Gil was back. He was in his arms again, and that felt nice John decided. He nuzzled into his chest. 

When all of the fog finally cleared from his head, John recognized that he was in the giant bathtub, on Gil’s lap, and Gil was slowly rinsing something out of his hair. When John spoke, he almost didn’t recognize his own voice, sounding weaker than usual, “Papi?” 

Gil startled a little, tipping John’s head back so he could see his eyes. When he noticed how clear they were his own lit up. “Ah, Querido, you’re back! I was starting to get worried. How are you feeling? I have some water if you want?” 

John nodded and took the bottle of water when Gil handed it to him. He let Gil help him hold it up, wrists still feeling weak. “‘M feelin’ fine. Warm. Safe. Tired. A little weird. I’ve never had that happen before. We talked about it possibly happenin’ when we got intense, so like it wasn’t scary or nothin’. I just kinda’ didn’t believe you were serious when you said it could happen.” 

“It happens to everyone different. Some it doesn’t happen to at all. Some it happens every time. Just depends on the person. I got us both clean and most of the knots worked out of your back. Are you ready for bed or do you just wanna stay here for a while?” Gil was stroking his hair and talking in that super gentle tone again. John decided that bed could wait another 5 minutes and curled up in the bath with his boyfriend. He was well fucked, safe, and warm, and most importantly, he had Gil humming behind him contentedly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hums my way down the highway to hell


	25. Chapter 25

John woke up before the sun for the first time in possibly his whole life. He couldn’t figure out why for a second until he noticed Gil’s phone was vibrating to the point it was about to fall off the night stand. He knew better than to answer it, so instead he flipped it over to silence it so that Gil could get some more sleep. The man in question was inelegantly flopped on his stomach. When John had wiggled free from his grip, he had latched himself onto the body pillow that had been at the top of the bed at the beginning of the night. John searched for his phone so that he could take a picture: Gil wrapped comically around a pillow, hair in messy sections, lines from sleep up and down his arms and legs. 

John decided that he wasn’t going to be able to go back to sleep, so the next logical step was to find some coffee. John made his way to the kitchen, not bothering with clothes since no one should be there and even if they were they wouldn’t be awake at 5:27 AM. Once he got the coffee started, John carefully perched on one of the barstools to do a personal assessment. His wrists were bruising: beautiful shades of pink and purple and yellow blossomed like a set of flower cuffs around his delicate bones. He was so sore in such a good way all across his body. He would feel this night for days, and wasn’t that just an exciting thought in itself? Looking at his chest was like looking at a polka dot landscape. The mixture of freckles and hickeys was interesting and relatively aesthetically appealing. While he was focused on the thought of what his teammates were going to say, Gil was sneaking up behind him. He yelped as strong arms wrapped around him and teeth found already sore spots on the back of his neck. “So naughty, sneaking out of bed without waking me up.” 

John snorted, turning so that Gil could rest his head on top of John’s while John nuzzled into the crook of his neck. “I hope you aren’t getting any ideas, Papi. I’m already sore, and I have a game today. I made coffee if you want some.” 

Gil groaned at the mention of coffee, pulling away from John to get two mugs out of a cabinet. “I could definitely help you stretch. You know, just so you’ll play better this afternoon.” He winked as he poured the coffee. John laughed good naturedly, knowing that his boyfriend was just kidding without having to be told. Laf pulled John off the stool and led him to the couches facing the city view through the ceiling to floor windows. They sipped their coffee, watching the sunrise curled around each other. It felt so nice and domestic, John could picture them doing this every day. Someday. 

Gil nudged his knee to bring him out of his thoughts. “You didn’t happen to bring your soccer stuff with you?” Finished coffee was cast to the side. Gil was climbing on top of him to pin him where he was on the couch. John only shook his head a little in response to the question. “I’ll text Herc. He can take you to get your stuff from your apartment. In a minute though. I’m not used to being alone with you at sunrise. I like it.” 

His hair was still everywhere, but with the sun starting to filter in, it looked more like a halo. He was looking at John like John was the most precious piece of art in a museum or the prize gem in a treasure chest that was highly sought after. John put one hand on his hip and the other on the back of his neck to pull him into a kiss. It was soft and gentle, but with as much passion as they had the night before or any other time they had kissed. Gil had a hand under John, holding him up off the couch and the other snaked through his hair gently tugging as if to remind John to stay in that moment, revel in the time they get together that no one else gets to see. 

After less time than John would have preferred, they had to break apart to figure out how to drape blankets across their body so that whoever was using a key to come in the front door wouldn’t be mentally scarred. After covering John, Laf draped his throw blanket like an old school toga and walked towards the front door. “Hello? Who’s there?” he called, looking as ridiculous as John felt. John was thinking through the list of people who had a key. It didn’t sound like Herc or Peggy, but whoever’s voice it was sounded feminine. Maybe the head of security? 

The voices moved closer to the living room where John was still laying. It didn’t sound like they were speaking English. That’s when the idea came to John. He wrapped his blanket around his waist like you would a towel and tied it in the front. While he wasn’t super stoked about meeting yet another person in minimal clothing, he was almost sure he knew who was speaking French to Gil in the kitchen. Almost nervously, he poked his head in. When he made eye contact with the stunning woman, he asked almost nervously, “Adrienne?” 

“John! You are just as pretty as the pictures Gilbert has sent me,” she glided around the counter to kiss both of John’s cheeks. To do this she had to pull his face down to hers; she couldn’t have been taller than 5 feet even. “Gilbert, maybe you should start having a snack before bed so you don’t feel the need to bite this poor boy.” 

“I will keep that in mind, Adri, but I don’t think John minds. Now stop staring. I know he’s pretty, but he is mine.” Gil put a possessive arm around John, who leaned up to kiss his cheek. Adrienne cooed over the couple for a moment before locking eyes with Gil and with the most sincere voice asked, “But, love, what happened to what’s mine is yours and whats yours is mine? Until death do we part?” 

She winked: it was over exaggerated and obviously meant to be a joke. Gil was sputtering which fueled John’s laughter. He was trying to say something about being divorced for 15 years, but Adrienne just waved him off with a soft air of defiance. “Run along, love. It’s my civic duty as your ex-wife to show John your baby pictures and awkward teenage phase. _Ooooh_ , John, did he tell you about his rap career?” 

“Adrienne,” Gil whined, “Please spare me the embarrassment. He’s never gonna want to see me again.” She just laughed and pushed him toward the stairs as well as John. “Go put clothes on. I’ll show myself to my room and see you boys back down here in like 30. Minutes, not hours. If you aren’t down here, I’ll come find you instead so no funny business. Looking at you, Gilbert.” 

“Well, if nothing else, mon chou, you have stayed consistently bossy,” The tinkle of her laughter could be heard from the direction of the guest room as Gil yelled after her. “Such a big apartment, people think that they can just come stay with no notice. My family is comprised of heathens, I swear. Heathens and one angel who I somehow enticed into my bed.” He scooped John over his shoulder as he was talking causing them to both uproariously laugh. “Were you aware you were dating a heathen, John?” 

“GILBERT, you put me down _right now_! If I didn’t know before, I know now.” His laughter made his serious expression mean less than he was shooting for. Gil just kept him over his shoulder until they got to the bedroom. “You weren’t complaining when I was carrying you around last night.” He wiggled his eyebrows at John. 

“You are terrible. _Plus terrible!_ ” John said in an exaggerated French accent. He got a swat on the ass as Gilbert put him down on the bed and went to find them some clothes. Yeah, John could definitely get used to this every day. Both were too caught up in the moment to notice that Gil's phone had fallen to the ground with so many missed calls from a restricted number. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey all! Brief bit from the author here. First of all, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. If you are looking for more George/Alex, check out my partner work: The Sugar Substitute which will focus on their ~~sex~~ relationship building. Have an idea for the boys? Want to see me write about something specific? Want to yell about Hamilton (Or In the Heights or Torchwood or Metalocalypse because I dabble in all of those)? Feel free to comment below! It not only makes me scream in delight, it makes me inclined to write faster! I also can be found on tumblr, username: smilingsarah10. Once again, thanks for reading! You the best  <3


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one is angsty and aggressive so if that's going to be a problem for you, please wait to read it or skip this chapter. Wishing all you readers the best, always. <3

“What position does John play?” Adrienne asked as they took their seats in the stands. Adrienne always refused to dress down, so she was in some floral sundress with designer sandals, sunglasses, and a floppy sunhat. Laf thought it looked ridiculous, but had learned long ago that arguing was a pointless gesture. She had made him dress in what she wanted as well, which is how he ended up in shorter shorts in a bright color that matched her statement color in her dress, a white t-shirt and a three quarter length blazer at a soccer game. Laf just knew that John was going to have a field day when he saw them. John had let it slip that he thought wearing the coordinating outfits was silly, and Adrienne and Laf were borderline matching. 

Laf slid his glasses onto his face. There were a few cameras lurking around at the college soccer game that he could see, all pointing at John as he took his spot on the field. Laf honestly couldn’t wait for the honeymoon period with the press to be over, and they could go back to being successful and happy in the shadows. “He plays where he’s needed normally. They only have 13 players on their team so everyone is pretty good at both offense and defense. He is playing center midfield it looks like. 

Herc and Peggy walked up the bleachers and sat behind Adrienne and Laf. They were dressed much more appropriately for the occasion drinking something frozen from the concession stand. Herc handed Adrienne a coffee and Laf a popsicle. Laf took a minute to thank whoever provided blessings to him for Herc. Not long after kickoff, George and Alex walked into the bleachers as well. Laf waved them over and did a round of introductions. It didn’t take long for everyone to fall into an easy friendship as they watched John out on the field. 

John was a completely different person on the field than in his personal life. He had the agility and command of a soldier, following and barking orders as necessary. His team passed and weaved and defended as if their life depended on winning the game. John walked off the field at halftime covered in dirt and sweat that Laf could see from the stands. During halftime, the group fell into easy conversation. Adrienne was the first to comment on the happy glow from Alexander and George. “So, what’s going on with you two that has you all twitter pated?” 

“Well, George asked me to move in with him yesterday! I said yes; John and I’s lease is up soon anyway, and Lord knows y’all need your own space what with all the cameras and the loud sex. Not together! Don’t give me that look!” Alexander rambled on, narrowly avoiding a playful smack from Laf, “So we are going to start moving stuff out today and should be done by the end of the week. We figured we would go after our group meal, and if anyone wanted to help they could come with us. I told John before the game. He said he was totally for it.” 

Adrienne looked at Laf confused. He wasn’t sure which part was unclear so he explained all of it. “John and Alex are roommates. Their lease ends with the month. Alexander has never heard us having sex so he wouldn’t know anything about it. John has volunteered us to help because he is a glutton for making me do manual labor. We are going after our group goes to get food because we always end up eating together after John’s games because he is starving for both food and our attention.” She nodded when he finally got to the part about the group meal. 

Laf felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He checked, and sure enough it was the same restricted number that had been calling him all day. Laf had a personal rule that he didn’t answer blocked calls but 32 was starting to push his limits. He briskly got up, distancing himself from the group, and answered the call. “Hello?” he said, putting as much disdain into the word as possible. For a moment the other side of the line was silent. As Laf was pulling away, he heard a voice that sent chills down his spine. 

“You’re dating a _pool boy_?” The voice wasn’t happy, obviously. Laf shuddered at the amount of fear that he still had ingrained in him after not hearing that voice in so long. “You could have been with me, a king, a god among men, and you chose to run away and give **my** property to a child?” 

With all the courage and strength he could muster, Laf kept his voice steady. “I am a person. Contrary to what you or my father thought, I was never a commodity to be sold. And if you have a problem with me, it’s in your best interest to keep John out of it.” The man on the other side of the line was screaming. Laf went to hang up, but couldn’t help but hear some of it. 

“I have a deed. I paid for you, Marie. You can’t run forever! You’ll see…” He took a deep breath and walked back to the group. The second half was just beginning. He looked towards John’s spot on the field and found his eyes were already on him. John made an elaborate gesture to blow him a kiss. Laf caught it and made a motion to pull it to his heart. They were both laughing even in the distance that separated them: they were still connected. The only one that noticed Laf’s tears, and knew they weren’t from laughter, in that moment was Adrienne. 

She took his hand when he sat down, rubbing comforting circles where she could. “Who was on the phone, mon amour?” He looked at her, imploring her not to push the topic any further. She caught on, her eyes alight with accusation at the fact that he still hadn’t told anyone yet. “Herc, there has been another security breach. Gilbert just got another threatening phone call from the same perp. Gil, hand over your phone.” He did without argument. She put all of his important backup stuff into her phone, dropped his to the ground, then stepped on it hard enough to shatter it. 

While everyone sat in stunned silence, Adrienne fixed her lipstick then turned back to the game. “Oh look, John is about to score!” John made the shot that put his team ahead. The stands went wild including and especially the group there for him which helped break the awkward silence. And everyone standing up to cheer made everyone but Laf oblivious to the fact that Adrienne just swept his broken phone under the bleachers without another thought. 


	27. Chapter 27

John took his time in the showers after his game, chatting with his teammates about life and classes and everything in between up to and including his relationship with Gil. They wanted to know what it’s like dating a billionaire, if John had been expecting the press, and of course they commented on the ‘coordinating’ outfits that Herc seemed to be so fond of. While it was nice to talk with his teammates, John always had a new appreciation of the maturity level of his partner and friends after spending an extended amount of time with people his own age. 

Lunch went as well as usual, Adrienne adding a much needed feminine touch to the usually all male group and Peggy. She was well versed in pretty much anything you could consider interesting. She talked soccer plays and modern art with John, international law with Alex, US politics with George, fashion with Herc, and defense strategies with Peggy in seemingly the same breath, never missing a beat or flailing in her knowledge. This distracted everyone but John from the fact that Gil was unusually silent. John placed a hand discretely on his thigh under the table, causing him to jump, startled out of whatever world in his head he was lost in. 

Leaning over to not draw attention from the rest of the group, John asked no louder than a breath, “Are you ok? You’re jumpy and oddly quiet.” 

Gil shook his head, whispering back, “We’ll talk later. It’s not important now, and besides, we are here celebrating you.” He leaned away, kicking back as much as he could in the restaurant seat and put his arm across John’s shoulders possessively. John knew this meant that the topic was probably closed. The rest of lunch went by quickly, and everyone but Herc, Laf, and Adrienne decided that they had nothing better to do than go help Alex and George move Alex out. The other group was on their way to get Gil a new phone because he had apparently broken his at the game somehow. 

John knew there was something wrong when he approached their apartment door and it was slightly ajar, not from the normal side with the doorknob but from the side with the hinges. He called out for Peggy, knowing that if he went in alone, Herc and Gil would scold him later. Instead of Peggy, George made it up the stairs first. “You ok up here, son? You sounded distressed.” 

John put his arm out to keep George from getting in the doorframe. “I think someone might have broken into the apartment. Peggy is in charge of my security, so I was calling so she’d go in first.” John turned when he finished speaking to see George rolling up the sleeves to his button up and cracking his knuckles. “What are you doing?” he asked as George brushed past him. 

“I may not be security, but I won’t have someone putting my boys in danger. Send Margarita in when she gets up here.” With that, George pulled the door out of the doorframe gently and snuck in to presumably start canvassing the apartment. John could hear Peggy and Alex meandering up the stairs at a leisurely pace and rushed back to get them up the stairs faster. Peggy, finally sensing John’s urgency followed George in with an exclamation of, “Fucking hell. Old man, you don’t have any training!” 

Alex and John stood outside in relative silence until the two reemerged. Peggy was the first to speak. “Well, Alex, the good news is that your room wasn’t really tampered with. Whoever intruded was only after John’s things. The bad news is that, John, your room looks like a tornado hit it. I can’t even really describe the damage because there is so much damage. So, Alex, we will probably have to work on that while you and George move your stuff out. I’m going to give the rest of my team a call to get their asses over here, and then let Herc know about the situation.” 

John didn’t say anything as he walked into the apartment. Everything looked basically the same. The small kitchen and living room hadn’t been touched minus a few items that had been picked up and sat down in places that weren’t their original location. All of John’s mugs were intact. There was still random takeout in the fridge. Peeking into Alex’s room revealed much of the same: small things out of place but no real damage. 

John had to enter his room twice to take in the sight. Peggy had not been exaggerating when she mentioned that you couldn’t describe the damage. The bed itself was sagging in the center as if someone had jumped in one spot until the frame broke on the bottom. The pillows had been cut open and the comforter ripped to shreds: little pieces of stuffing were littered about the room. In John’s art corner, someone had taken black paint and spread it all over his original works, signing a golden KL where John usually put his JL signature. His clothes had also been ripped to tatters and pulled out of his drawers to litter the floor. They even had the audacity to snip his charging cable and plug to his iHome. The damage was contained to the bedroom: John’s bathroom hadn’t been touched. 

Upon finding the bathroom intact, John noticed something that he hadn’t yet considered. The gift box from Gil as well as the letter and the other plugs were all missing, and he knew he had left them scattered on the floor. He had made a mental note to pick them up after the game, just that morning. Walking back out into the room, John looked at the scene with a more critical eye. His sketchbook was missing: it contained sketches of his life, most recently being his time spent with Gil and his friends. The photo-booth strip that John and Gil had jokingly taken in at a street fair had been ripped off the wall where it had been pinned leaving only a little remaining from the top. John scraped a little paint off of the canvas on his easel to reveal that it had been a decoy. Someone had taken his Expressionistic view of Laf’s profile and left a decoy from his collection of blank canvasses. 

John found Peggy in the living room still talking to Herc. Pulling her attention away, he explained what he found when he looked around, finishing with, “I think someone doesn’t like the fact that I’m with Gil. Every trace of him in the apartment was stolen rather than destroyed.” Peggy passed along his theory to Herc. After a second of waiting and murmuring from the other side of the phone, Peggy hung up. “Grab anything you want to salvage or make a list for the cleaners. I have orders to keep you safe in Laf’s apartment until further notice.” 


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKAY well the last chapter was angsty and now this one is kind of sad? And there is like a minor mention of Non/Con which I will add to the tags tomorrow. Just... be wary. It will get better again soon I promise. OK Author out.

Sometimes John liked to be coddled. If he’d had a trying day, if he’d had artists block, if he hadn’t done as well on a test as he knew he should have, he wanted to be babied. He needed to know that someone cared about him despite his flaws or for his flaws. Other nights, when life was more than John could handle, he wanted to be destroyed. He wanted to be stripped to his rawest elements then guided back slowly so that maybe his problems wouldn’t seem so intimidating when he returned. That night had been one of the second varieties, and Gil had been happy to comply. 

In the afterglow, John didn’t want to think about life or work or school. So he asked Gil to tell him a story. “Querido, I don’t know any good stories. I can google one if you’d like? Don’t pout.” 

John pouted anyway. “Make one up. Please, Papi?” 

With a sigh, Laf started his story while petting John’s hair and placing soothing touches where ever he could reach. “Once upon a time… there was a prince. He came from a long line of princes that lived in the same palace and had the same job after becoming king. This prince was different though. He didn’t want to be a king because the king always looked stressed and like he wasn’t having any fun. So this prince decided he would do anything he could to avoid being king. He acted out, threw massive parties, broke all the rules, but still the kingdom expected the prince to become king someday. When the prince became a teenager, the king introduced him to a princess who was everything he could have wanted in a friend. The king told the prince that the princess and prince would get married someday. The prince told the princess that while she was perfect, he was way more into princes. She immediately understood and told her father that they couldn’t marry. The prince’s father was livid. Apparently he had been banking on the prince marrying the princess in order to save his kingdom from financial ruin. Now that that option was off the table, he would have to come up with something different. The king led his kingdom into the darkness to ‘save’ it, but the prince wouldn’t know that until later. The king introduced the prince to another man, another king. This other king took the prince under his wing, pampering him and making sure that he didn’t want for anything. The prince thought he had found his happy ending until the first time the prince told this other king no. The other king turned into a nightmare. He told the prince that he wasn’t allowed to say no to the other king because the other king had bought the prince from the prince’s father. The prince was both devastated and livid. He went to run-away, but when he got home, he found his parents on their deathbeds. The king confirmed everything the other king said as true, and the prince retreated into the safety of his childhood home. The only one who he would let near him was the princess. The princess helped him bury his parent’s when they finally passed, and helped him escape to another country where he could hide. The prince knew that the other king was out there somewhere, but he filled his time exploring the wonders of his new home, and helping him bring the kingdom he had inherited out of the shadow his father had left. Eventually, the prince met his perfect match, and they will hopefully live happily ever after.” 

John’s eyes had closed about half way through Laf’s story. Laf assumed he had fallen asleep, so Laf gently tucked John close to his chest and focused on falling asleep himself. The next day was going to be rough: John had extensive classes, Laf had a meeting with John’s landlord on top of business meetings he couldn’t get out of. For the moment, he reveled in the tranquility of being curled up with John, knowing that in this place they were both safe from intruders or storms or evil kings. He was almost asleep when John’s small voice brushed against his thoughts. “That didn’t sound like just a story, Papi.” 

Ever observant, Laf knew that he couldn’t hide his past from John forever. He also knew that the threat he was running from seemed to approach from the horizon closer each day. He was starting to feel trapped again, which meant it was time to run. Ignoring what John was insinuating, Laf kissed his forehead. “Thanksgiving break will be coming up soon. Want to go to France?” 

John, his perfect boy, allowed the subject to change. “Sure. We can spend it with Adrienne. She could probably use the company.” And with that the two curled together in the darkness and pretended like their problems were just part of a faraway story and the only thing real was the arms around each of them. 


	29. Chapter 29

With such hectic schedules, it took them a little over a week to fall back onto the topic of where John was going to go now that his apartment wasn't an option. His stuff had gotten moved into storage, and John had been on a relatively unsuccessful apartment search in the meantime. He didn’t have high expectations for his living quarters, but Herc had insisted about coming along to find John a suitable living space, and his expectations were a mile long. So far he had vetoed 10 apartments for reasons like, “not safe enough,” and, “you can literally see the water damage,” and John’s personal favorite, “No, because I said so.” 

“Will you _please_ **let me live**? It’s just an apartment. You know I’m going to be over at Gil’s half the time anyways. Y’all can coddle me there. Right now I just need a place where I can do my art, study for class, and crash at the end of the day,” John was whining, but after years of putting up with their favorite petulant billionaire, Herc was unaffected and continued looking at his phone, probably picking out he next apartments for them to go tour since he was displeased with John’s selections. 

“Look, John, darling, I know it’s stressful, but I’m only trying to help. I know it’s been a long, trying week. Let’s give this one last place a look, then I promise I will leave the subject alone. I think you’ll really like it though,” Herc pulled a groaning John behind him as they started their walk towards the nicer part of town. 

John kept quiet, listening to the sounds of the city instead of trying to make conversation, until he realized what direction they were walking. “We’re headed back towards Gil’s building…” 

Herc only hummed in response, which John had learned was his way to stay on the fence by neither confirming or denying what the person had said. He was managing to multitask, his eyes never leaving his tablet as he navigated the city with practiced ease, his steps never faltering. John assumed that maybe he’d given up for the day and was just dropping him off for date night. 

They rode the elevator up in comfortable silence. John finally spoke up, “Thanks for helping me Herc. I guess in hindsight I was glad you were there to help me not pick a place with mold and water damage.” 

Herc patted his arm paternally, “I’m happy to help. We all just want to find you a place where we don’t have to worry for your safety or happiness.” With a smirk that only served to bring John’s confusion back in full force, Herc continued, “Like I said, just one more place and we will be done.” 

John’s confusion somehow magnified as they approached the armored door to Gil’s apartment and instead of using the key Herc had, he knocked. Adrienne opened the door, hair pulled into a tight bun, glasses and pencil skirt accenting a cream colored ruffled top that made her look the part of business professional. She looked at John and Herc with the outer appearance of a first meeting and a sparkle in her eye. “Ah, Mr. Mulligan, Mr. Laurens, you’re both early. The Marquis de Lafayette isn’t home from work yet, so I can show you around while we wait?” She ushered them into the familiar apartment. John decided it was better to play along than admit he was going crazy. 

“So, Mr. Laurens, Mr. Mulligan was telling me that you were looking for a new apartment after some unfortunate circumstances with your last one. Your qualifications were that you needed space for yourself to study for your pre-med degree, a place where your art could flourish, and a place to rest at the end of long days. Is that correct?” She asked slyly, taking his arm like a lady and guiding him around like he wasn’t intimately familiar with the layout and amenities of the kitchen and the hallway. He nodded, not trusting himself to respond with anything other than sarcasm. 

She drug him from place to place giving her spiel, “Well then do we have a deal for you. The Marquis is looking for a roommate. We have seen how you handle certain situations and think you would be the perfect fit. You’ll find that you won’t get better views than the picture windows in the front living room overlooking the city. We’ve set up an easel so that you could really imagine yourself working there.” John did a double take and noticed that the easel in question was _his_ easel that he could have sworn they’d moved into storage until he could find a place of his own as he didn’t want to mess with the clean modern look Gil kept throughout his apartment. Before he could ask what was going on, Adrienne was pulling him to the stairs. 

“Now, not only are there spectacular views, but the Marquis values privacy and his ability to work from home,” she unlocked and opened a door on the hallway that John had never noticed before. Inside was a bedroom just as large as the one Gilbert slept in with a similar walk in closet, a smaller bathroom, and another set of windows framing a desk in the corner. The room hadn’t been decorated or touched in a very long time, but John could definitely see himself living there. “You’d have the option to decorate however you want. This room is a spare room, not the guest room. You and the cleaning staff would be the only ones with access. It should provide plenty of privacy if that’s what you needed.” 

John looked back and forth between his two friends. He didn’t want to be an imposition on Gil, even after all of their seemingly hard work to get them to move in together. “The apartment is truly lovely, but I would hate to impose on _the Marquis_ like that,” the title felt strange on John’s tongue, but he pressed on, “I also think, Mr. Mulligan, that this was out of my agreed price range.” 

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, there was a bang from downstairs of the front door flying open. Gil’s voice echoed through the silence of the apartment as he was yelling a string of curses in a language that John couldn’t recognize followed by a booming, “Help, Adrienne, I’m running late! Have they made it here yet? Did I miss my opportunity?” 

John couldn’t help to laugh a little, muffling it into a cough. Gil spent so much of his time being the ‘cool-always-suave-businessman’ that sometimes John forgot that it was possible to fluster him, and that usually him being flustered had something to do with pleasing John. Adrienne also lost her composure a bit. “No, hun, of course not. I’m in the bedroom, we can talk through the plan.” 

Gil’s voice got closer, “Oh, thank God. I wanted to be here to see if he was excited or disgusted at the idea ‘cause I know he wants his own space and what if having a room to himself isn’t enough? I’d really like for him to live here, but I also don’t want him to feel trapped or pressured into it or…” Gil finally walked into the room. The look he gave Adrienne could have melted steel, “Adrienne! You lied!” 

The poor man looked so conflicted, hiding his hopeful glances behind an air of indifference in what John now knew was an effort to help John remain unbiased on whether or not he wanted to move into the apartment. John grabbed his hands and pulled him into an embrace. With a quick, chaste kiss on the lips, John finally answered. “If you will have me here, I would love to be here. A room to myself is plenty private enough for me. I just don’t want to be a burden. I know that you weren’t planning on asking me to move in, and I don’t want to rush things.” 

Gil pulled out a ring of keys, all marked with different doors in the apartment and some in french. “Sometimes the best things come out of the worst circumstances, oui? These are your keys. The ones in English go to doors here, the ones in French go to the doors of all my other houses: the ones in France, the ones at the beach, the ones in the mountain. We will also get you an ID for the office and elevators and all that other stuff but for now these are the important ones. We will have to get the room clean and sheets and décor, but I figured we could do that tonight in lieu of a traditional date.” His excitement was apparent the longer he spoke, and John couldn’t help but catch the bug. Grinning from ear to ear, he and Gil took a picture to send to Alex and George. Sure, it wasn’t as formal as their move-in realization had been, but it was still perfect for them. 

“So, cleaning, quick trip to storage and ikea, set up, and then we break in the bed, right Pequeña?” Gil whispered to John on the way out the door. John snorted, but kissed his ridiculous boyfriend with a noncommittal, “We’ll see.” 


	30. Chapter 30

“I just don’t understand why I have to go to this. You’ve got Adrienne! She would be perfect arm candy for a gala,” John said absentmindedly from his seat at his easel. He was just about done with the painting of the sunrise over the buildings. It would only require a little more blending before the sky would be just about perfect. If he could just focus… 

“Pequeña, look at me,” John didn’t really have much choice as Gil had squeezed his cheeks and guided his eyes to be level with his own. He gave John a quick peck on the nose before switching to stroking his face instead of grabbing his cheeks. “First point, Adrienne is a beautiful woman whom my soul loves, but you are on a whole ‘nother level. There will be no arm candy in attendance who could outshine you. Second point, you don’t _have_ to go, but Alex and George will be very sad if I show up alone after telling them you’d be there. Plus, if you say no, you’ll have to deal with pouty me and everyone else all day then drunk us later tonight. Third point, I can guarantee that Adrienne is going to drag us to at least two of these when we are in France next week, so this would be a good trial run.” 

John was prepared for the last of his midterms before Thanksgiving break, so he really didn’t have an excuse to not go. He honestly just liked pushing Gil’s buttons. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Papi.” He blended the last of the clouds in his painting and put his brush in the cleaning jar. He turned towards Gil to continue, but Gil was looking at the painting on the easel. Gil was looking at it with such appreciation. In the last week alone, he had watched John get up before the dawn to paint at least four times. He hadn’t wanted to talk, Gil just watched as he got into the groove and painted what he saw or what he was thinking about. Then, as the sun crested the horizon and John finished up his painting, Gil would bring him some coffee and they would sit together on the couch until one of them had to go to class or work. 

John hadn’t ever been a morning person, but the last week had taught him that he could be convinced to be one with the right incentives. He brushed his hand through Gil’s messy morning hair. Gil brought his attention back to John. “You truly are phenomenal. You could be a pro painter if you were featured in the right galleries.” Somehow, Laf managed to turn the praise into something seductive, stirring up John’s sex drive. It amazed John how fast Gil could flip that switch in him. John pushed back against his urges. 

“You do realize that I live here now, right? You don’t have to seduce me anymore.” His words broke out in a laugh as Gil pulled him to his feet then into his arms to spin him through the air. Using that same tone of voice that drove John to lust, he whispered, “If I can help it, I will never stop seducing you.” The kiss that followed was dizzying and only broken up by the sound of a camera clicking. 

John looked over from his spot in Gil’s arms to see Adrienne in full makeup with her hair done, but in her robe. Even at such an early hour, she looked put together. When John asked Gil about it, Gil just commented that even when they were married and living in the same bed, Adrienne had perfect makeup and hair at all hours of the night. “She’s an enigma that I could spend all my life trying to understand and still would miss something,” he had said fondly. 

“Adri, delete that!” Gil was faking a scandalized expression. When Adrienne looked confused, Gil continued, “John and I are _indecent_! What about our _modesty_?” 

Adrienne scoffed at his antics, but John couldn’t help but giggle like an idiot. Gil pulled him in by the hair for another searing kiss, followed similarly by the noise of the camera and Adrienne mumbling, “Oh, that one was even better. I should caption it ‘Small, in-over-his-head cutie smiles while he is seduced by bed-headed runaway French heathen.’ Doesn’t that sound about right?” 

“Ah, oui! Because the press definitely needs another picture of me in my underwear,” Gil shot back, only putting John down when they were all in the kitchen surrounding the coffee pot like predators circling in on their prey. 

“So, you’re coming tonight right, John?” Adrienne asked while batting her eyelashes in a way that told John there was a right and wrong answer to the question. She had pulled up something on her tablet and seemed to be waiting for John to answer her before she showed him what it was. 

“If everyone thinks it’s necessary,” he was interrupted by both Gil and Adrienne saying, “They do!” but he waved them off as he continued, “Then yes, I will be attending the Gala.” 

Adrienne lit up and pulled both men close to her. “Oh splendid! Let’s discuss your outfits then because I won’t have my arm candy clashing with my dress on either side.” Apparently, contrary to what either men previously thought, they would both be _her_ dates that night. 

The tablet showed a floor length champagne dress and accessories to match. Beside the dress were two coordinating suits. As Adrienne flipped through different dress options, the suits morphed to match the dress. “What is this app? This is amazing!” John exclaimed as he watched, enthralled. 

“It’s basically our closets. As Herc gets or makes our clothes, he stockpiles them in a warehouse. Before they get stored, a picture gets taken and uploaded to the app. Then, he can create outfit combinations from his tablet and just go retrieve the pieces he needs. Gil created the app for him not long after he was hired. It has saved us so much time,” Adrienne explained. 

John looked at Gil. He was constantly amazed by this man who claimed to not have any creative genius. “So that’s two amazing apps you’ve designed. Anything else you’re hiding from me.” 

Gil blushed. He was so cute when he was flustered. “I dabble in a lot of everything. Can we get back to the suits? I’d like to settle this matter so I can proceed with my Saturday plans.” 

Adrienne cocked her head to the side. “I checked the schedule, and you’re supposed to be free until the gala. What are you planning to do?” 

A little smirk that flashed across his lips was the only warning John got before Gil had hauled him over his shoulder, calling back to Adrienne as he made his way up the stairs, “John! I’m planning to do John!” 

They only heard Adrienne fake gag once before the door was closed and they were too busy to notice anything else. 


	31. Chapter 31

Adriene had dragged them out of bed kicking and screaming at the very last second that they would have time to get ready without being late, much to Laf’s chagrin. Where he used to look for any excuse to dress up and go out, he now just wanted to spend that time in with John. But, some of his sponsors and business partners would be wanting to socialize with him tonight, so he had to go. Adrienne had ushered John back to his room when Herc had stepped in with two large garment bags, taking one with her on the way out. Not for the first time in his life, Laf stood in front of Herc in his underwear. “You realize I can dress myself, right? I have worn a nice suit set a time or two in my life,” he grumbled under Herc’s scrutiny. 

“Yeah, you’re hopeless at it, but I suppose you have dressed yourself once or twice,” he stopped his scrutiny long enough to grab a small trunk from the doorway. “Before you get dressed though, we have to do some makeup. You and John have had some pretty _visible_ fun, and we’ve gotta make sure it’s covered.” 

Laf raised his eyebrows. “We’ve never done makeup before. What’s with the change?” 

Herc rolled his eyes, dabbing on some cold cream and powder wherever there was a spot that might be visible when he was in the suit. “Well, one, you’ve never had a hickey the size of Texas right below your ear or nail marks dragging down the back of your neck to your, um,” Herc seemed to be looking for a word that was appropriate before throwing out the professionalism, “well, your ass I guess is where those lead. And two, with the break-in, we are taking every precaution to make sure you’re relationship with John is as innocent as possible to try to keep any other crazies from coming after him.” 

At the mention of John’s compromised safety, Laf clammed up and let Herc do whatever he needed to do. The conversation drifted to more comfortable things: business, leisure activities, and most importantly, Thanksgiving plans. 

“I saw that you and John are heading to France. That will be fun, and honestly, I think it will be good for Adrienne to have some company,” Herc rambled as he helped Laf into his undershirt and what felt like a garter belt, “We are apparently going to the Schuyler mansion. Phillip has insisted that the kids all bring their significant others which is going to make things _so fun_. Oh, speaking of significant others,” Herc paused again after tucking Laf’s dress shirt into his dress pants and handing him the vest to go on next looking away, fidgeting and embarrassed, “I’m, uh, I’m asking Peggy to marry me. Tonight. I haven’t told anyone yet, but you’re the closest friend I’ve got. So I thought you should know.” 

Laf immediately looked up from buttoning the vest to react to the news. His hands flew wildly through the air as he screamed and jumped around. Herc laughed and tried to calm him down. “Relax, man. She hasn’t even said yes yet.” 

Laf could hardly keep still while Herc continued dressing him. “But she will! You hired a photographer, right? No? Hercules Mulligan! I will find you one or five. What about the ring? You have it on you? Oh thank goodness. I suppose you’re not hopeless. Is she here? No? Good. Adrienne! John! Herc is getting married!!” Laf screamed the news as soon as Herc finished tucking in some tie scarf thing. 

There was a loud thunk from the other room before two sets of footsteps clattered down the hall and into Laf’s room. Adrienne made it in before John who was still only half dressed but trying to keep up. “Did we hear that correctly? Herc, are you serious?” Adrienne’s English was so accented and fast that Herc could barely make out what she said. “Yes, I’m asking her tonight, but I mean she hasn’t aid yes yet…” 

Adrienne had taken a flying leap into Herc’s arms with a squeal and many kisses on both his cheeks. Herc pulled her out to arm’s distance and playfully asked, “What is with you French people and the screaming and flailing?” 

Adrienne swatted him on the arm. John finally got to approach and give Herc a hug and his congratulations. They all took a moment to admire the ring. Herc explained that it had been his mother’s and was passed down through his family when the oldest son married for a long time. It was silver, with a large princess cut stone in the middle and smaller stones pressed into the top of the band. There was a matching wedding ring and men’s band in the box alongside the engagement ring, meant to be passed down as a set. 

“She’s going to love it,” John breathed while looking closely at the rings. With John so taken by the antiques, Laf let his mind wander to what kind of ring would look best on John’s finger or what he would like. As quickly as the thoughts came, Laf pushed them away. Today was about Herc and business, and Laf needed to get his head in the game. 

“Herc, you help John finish getting dressed. Adri, Herc didn’t hire a photographer. I know, can you believe him? We have some work to do and,” Laf checked his watch, “About 30 minutes to get it done.” 

Herc dragged John back towards the other room with a groan while Adrienne started flipping through her contacts to see if she could find an available photography team. In the silence that filled the room, Laf started humming the song that they played as he and Adrienne’s first dance. He was almost to the chorus when the realization dawned on her. “Gilbert, you rascal. I’d know that tune anywhere.” 

“Care to dance with me, mademoiselle? My partner seems to be a little underdressed at the moment,” Laf bowed deep and low after finding the actual song on his playlist. Adrienne stepped up and took his hand, letting him twirl and spin her around the room like they used to in France. When the song ended, he dipped her low and kissed her soundly on the cheek. Blushing, she righted herself and went back to playing on her phone. 

“I haven’t seen you in the hopeless romantic phase in years, Gil. It’s a good look on you. You and John,” she patted his hand affectionately and Laf had never felt so blessed to have this platonic love with her, “you’re cute together, and I genuinely hope that you continue to grow in this happiness. I would love to someday be your maid of honor.” 

They opted to ignore the tears in both of their eyes and tried to claim it was from laughter, even when Herc came back in and called them, “Fucking feely French people,” with as much affection behind the barb as was possible. 


	32. Chapter 32

John had groaned the whole time that Adrienne covered the visible parts of his body with makeup. He had whined when Herc pulled his belt just a smidge too tight and made him wear the ridiculous multipart suit that coordinated with Gil and Adri’s outfits. When he made the comment that he hadn’t even wanted to go to prom, Herc snorted and assured him that galas were much worse. Even with all the nervousness surrounding the actually night and his constant stream of complaints, there was no shaking the excitement of the group as they made their way to the event. Herc was proposing, and they all looked damn good! 

John was the first one out of the car when they arrived. He had immediately turned and helped Adrienne out as it was difficult in her dress, and then helped Gil out who made a scene about how John was such a good southern gentleman. John had only rolled his eyes and continued to smile good naturedly as they flanked Adrienne on the way into the venue as the cameras did their best to blind them. Once inside, John took a moment to look around the room. It looked exactly like you’d imagine: glittering chandeliers high above casting light off of people’s outfits as they danced and milled about below. People were networking, reconnecting, and most importantly drinking. John graciously accepted champagne when a server came by. 

Gil downed his champagne in one go. Adrienne smacked his arm as he reached for another. “You know how you get at these things. Herc can’t be on damage control tonight so _please_ behave yourself.” 

“I would never step in the way of Herc’s happiness. And there is a difference in telling someone to be good and telling them to behave, cherie. I am always behaving. Just sometimes I am behaving badly,” and as he finished his sentence he picked another glass off of a passing serving tray. “Besides, if I’m going to have to deal with these people, I would rather be plenty inebriated.” 

Adrienne rolled her eyes and sipped her champagne slowly. John held his in his hand not quite sure what the appropriate drinking tempo would be in this situation. He wished that Alex was there. He had always been better at assessing situations and figuring out what the best action would be. Seeming to sense his discomfort, Gil wrapped a possessive arm around John. “If you want to come meet people and talk politics, you don’t have to leave my side all evening. I’m sure we will bump into Alex and George eventually.” 

John shot him a grateful look, leaning into the touch. “Alright then, my little John Laurens, welcome to the high life,” he wrapped his elbow around John’s and used his leverage to move their drinks to their lips, “To many more years of being the perfect eye candy.” John couldn’t help but giggle at the wink his ridiculous boyfriend shot him before they both downed their drinks. 

Adrienne showed them the short repeating video before posting it on her Instagram. She assured John that is that was the worst thing to make it online, they would have had the tamest night of her life. As a group, they moved through the crowd. John felt way over his head as he met with business partners, CEOs, Senators, and members of the social elite. It was hard to keep track of names, harder still to figure out where people fell on the social ladder. All John could really tell was that Gil was at the top somehow. People were constantly angling for his attention: wanting to propose new partnerships, his opinions on new ideas, if he wanted to be a part of what they were working on. Gil was doing an astounding job of not committing to anything. John doubted that people even realized he was avoiding giving a straight answer when they walked away satisfied. 

Gil was also doing a phenomenal job of guiding John into conversations he could handle. He met a few foreign dignitaries that were delighted in his fluent Spanish, a gaggle of model friends who told him how ‘aesthetically appealing’ he was and asked if he had ever considered modelling himself, and then some medical professionals that seemed to actually want to hear his opinions and give him advice for grad school. Unfortunately, each of these conversations moved him further across the room. When he had finally exhausted the conversation with the head of surgery at a prominent hospital, he had lost track of anyone he knew. 

“Excuse me, are you John Laurens?” an accented voice came from behind him. John spun on heel to see who was calling for him. The guy was older with silver white hair pulled back into a ponytail in a pretentious white suit. John carefully shook the hand offered to him. 

“It’s good to finally meet you. I’m the Marquis’ French liason, under Adrienne. Can I help you find another drink? I was actually on my way to the bar,” the man asked. John didn’t really feel comfortable around him. Every other employee of Gil’s company had referred to him by Gil or Laf as opposed to his actual title. He couldn’t find a good out though, so John followed the strange man to the bar on the far side of the room. 

“So, what does the Marquis see in you, John Laurens?” the man asked when he handed John his drink. John thought of the best way to answer, sipping the drink to give him some wiggle room. The drink was uncomfortably sweet, and John cringed internally but pressed on not wanting to offend Gil’s friend. 

“You’d have to ask him that, honestly. He likes to say I keep him young, but he is the one that pulls me out to events like this. How did you meet him and come to work for him, Mister…?” John wanted to find out as much about the stranger as possible so that he could ask Adrienne later. 

The man’s smile didn’t seem to reach his eyes. “You can just call me Lou. I actually knew the Marquis’ father before I knew him.” 


	33. Chapter 33

Laf looked up from his third politician asking him to back something of ‘dire importance’ to realize that John had wandered off. Taking it as a polite out, Laf made his way around the room to try and find any of his people. The first one he stumbled into was Adrienne, speaking passionate French to the French ambassador while he and his date laughed along. Laf only had to tap her elbow once to get her to pull away. 

“What’s wrong?” she said through a smile that only Laf could tell was fake. He adjusted his own face to its ‘natural’ smile, wary of the presence of cameras and busybodies. 

“I am trying to find everyone. I lost sight of John. He was already nervous, and I would rather him not be alone for too long. Have you seen him?” he asked holding back panic behind his eyes. 

“Relax, love. He’s here somewhere and the worst that could happen is that he could accidentally tell a paparazzo that you’re terrible in the sack. We will find him,” she tapped away at her phone for a second before grabbing his arm and subtly leading him forward, “I just sent out a security message and a text to him. Either the team will find him, he will respond, or we will find him, oui?” 

Laf did relax a little. Surely nothing would happen at such a public event as this. He just didn’t like the thought of John alone and uncomfortable. He kissed Adrienne’s hand and led her across the room. The next couple they ran into was George and Alex. “There you are, Gilbert! We were wondering if you were coming. I see John chose to stay home?” George greeted, kissing Adrienne’s offered hand and shaking Laf’s. Alex did the same although his face scrunched up at the thought that John wasn’t going to be there. 

“Actually, he’s here somewhere. I just seem to have lost him in the crowd. I was hoping that one of you had seen him, but apparently not it seems. If you see him, could you tell him I’m looking for him?” Laf continued to smile so that his friends would not worry. 

George saw right through the act. “Hey, we will find him. Knowing John, he’s found a quiet corner away from the middle of the crowd. He was never a big fan of social interaction. Bee, you wanna’ go check that way and I’ll go this way?” Alex nodded and they split up, promising to text if they saw him. 

Adrienne checked in with security, and they hadn’t seen anything which meant John hadn’t tried leaving. They finally ran into Herc and Peggy, sitting in the corner of the room looking ridiculously in love. Laf made a gagging noise to announce their approach. Herc rolled his eyes and pulled Peggy into his lap to kiss her on the cheek. “How are you two tonight?” Adrienne cooed knowingly, but didn’t push noticing the lack of visible ring. 

“We are definitely enjoying a night off. Hercules keeps promising me a dance, but apparently he’s ‘waiting for the right song’ so it may be awhile until we actually hit the floor. What about you two? And where’s little Johnny?” Peggy spoke for Herc since he seemed to be unable to form words. Laf hoped that wore off before whatever song he was going to propose during. Laf tried to give him a sympathetic look. 

Adrienne explained that John was missing. Peggy stood up and pulled Herc with her. “Don’t you have a tracker on his phone, honey?” she asked in a low voice. She felt her own thigh, and Laf knew that she had her holster hidden somewhere under her beautiful red dress. Herc swatted her hand away. 

“Chill, you’re off duty tonight, remember?” she looked like she was going to protest, but Herc gave her an interesting look, and she backed down, wrapping her hands around his bicep. 

“Yes, Sir,” she said with respect. Laf was delighted as Herc leaned over to give her a kiss and whisper something in her ear. She shivered and Laf read ‘mine tonight’ off of Herc’s lips before looking away. 

Herc squinted his eyes at his tablet screen. “Well, according to the tracker, John is coming this way. We should see him in just a minute.” 

Laf looked in the direction that Herc pointed and froze. There was John, being almost completely supported by Alex. When his brain caught up with the visual, he rushed over to them. “Did y’all… pregame… before coming here?” Alex managed to get out as Laf took most of John’s weight. 

“No, why? Where did you find him?” Laf asked, trying to take in John’s appearance. His head was rolled back, and he was mumbling something under his breath an incoherently. When Laf tried to tip his chin down to make him make eye contact, his eyes were unfocused. “John, can you hear me?” 

John only goofily smiled and responded in slurred and broken Spanish. “Ay, Papi! Te ves… preciosa! Podemos… ir a casa ahora? No me… siento bien.” 

Even with his concern for John, Alex broke into a smile. “OH my God, he calls you ‘Papi’? This is the best day of my life.” 

Laf rolled his eyes, letting Alex’s commentary go in favor of getting John settled into a chair. John ran his hands through Laf’s hair, seemingly fascinated with it and at the same time using it to balance himself on the chair. “I actually only saw him have one glass of champagne. He’s not usually a light weight. Where did you find him?” 

“He was in the bathroom. Couldn’t figure out how to make the stall door work. I helped him take care of business then we went to come find you. He’s honestly gotten progressively worse since I found him and it’s only been about 15 minutes.” Alex explained while Adrienne texted one of her doctor friends that was in attendance to come over to look at John. 

“John, sweetie, can you tell us who you last talked to?” Adrienne wiggled her way beside him so she could pet his hand. John looked her in the eye and said, “Eh?” 

“Quién fue la última persona que habló con ?” Laf tried again in Spanish. John nodded and said, “Ah, Lou?” 

“Lou? No, I think he means the bathroom, like ‘going to the loo’. I don’t think that he knows who he talked to.” Alex supplied. “George went to get the car. I figured we could take him by the police station and the ER. I had a friend get drugged at a bar before, and this is wat it looked like.” 

Laf started to gather his stuff when someone on stage called his name. Every year they did a surprise speaker to see who could speak the most eloquently. Apparently it was his year. “Dude, just go. Blow them away. George and I will bring him back after all the tests and stuff.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Te ves… preciosa! Podemos… ir a casa ahora? No me… siento bien. : You look gorgeous. Can we go home now? I'm not feeling well.  
> Quién fue la última persona que habló con ? : Who was the last person you talked to?


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is from the perspective of John who has been drugged. If that is triggering to you, please disregard this chapter and message me on tumblr: smilingsarah10 and I can give you any of the plot you've missed. As it is, the writing is all over the place and John is an unreliable narrator as he is inebriated.

The world was spinning in a way that John could register was definitely _not normal_ , but he couldn’t make it stop. One minute he had been talking to Lou about his Thanksgiving break plans with Gil and Adri, then the next it felt like he was on the Titanic as it capsized. Lou had walked him to the bathroom, at least he thought that was what had happened. Everything got fuzzy between the potted plant and the actual bathroom door. He had spent what felt both like years and seconds trying to figure out which of the four latches he would have to turn to get into the bathroom when Alex had shown up also in a group of four and the Alex group flipped the latches simultaneously and helped him into the stall. 

Alex was trying to say something to him but it sounded like he was behind glass and speaking some language that John didn’t recognize. Then he was moving again? Were his legs actually moving? He felt like he was standing still as Alex lugged them both forward. Should he be moving his legs? He tried it and Alex stumbled. Maybe he should just not. John looked down at their feet. Wasn’t it interesting how people _moved_? Like how we just learn how to balance on two appendages instead of four? And how people could adapt to even less appendages and be the exact same or even better? Amazing. John tried to tell Alex as much but he wasn’t seeming to be listening. 

John bet Lou would have listened. He had seemed really interested in hearing about everything. He focused on John’s life: his studies, his art, his relationship with Gil. He had been really amused that Gil was from France, but he didn’t seem surprised. What had surprised him was when John mentioned that they’d be traveling to France for the break. Had John said it was weird that Gil would return after all those years or had it been Lou? How would Lou have known how long it had been since Gil had been to France? John had to be mistaken. 

John couldn’t figure out what was wrong with his thoughts. Why was he feeling so weird? When did he start feeling so weird? _Oh no_ , he’d been drugged. These were all the classic symptoms of a date rape drug. He’d accepted a drink from a stranger thinking it was safe. He needed to get someone to write down what the guy had looked like. Lou had to have drugged him and he would forget the whole encounter by morning if he didn’t tell someone. More arms were on him all of the sudden, drawing his attention back to the present. Then, familiar hands were on his face. His eyes locked on Gilbert’s concerned expression. 

Had he told him how nice he looked in his suit yet today? Considering that he looked nice everyday regardless of what he was wearing, it wasn’t surprising that John would think he looked nice in a suit that was probably more expensive than his education. John realized in that moment that he was also in a suit like that. What a weird world he had stepped into. Gil was still looking at him concerned. Wasn’t there something he was supposed to be telling him? John couldn’t quite figure it out. 

He opened his mouth and words came out, but Gil didn’t answer him. Instead he asked Alex a question. Why did they sound so far away? Oh right he was drugged. Gil finally looked at him and asked a real question. The last person he had talked to was… Oh, right, it was Lou! 

They didn’t look like they understood. John needed them to understand, but thinking so much was making him exhausted. He stumbled in Alex’s grip, caught by Gil again. Somewhere far away there was an announcement that sounded like Gil’s name. Alex held him as Gil walked towards the announcement. He felt exhaustion hit him deep in his bones. Strong arms lifted him up and away from Alex. It was a familiar scent: old wood and spices that reminded him of someone calm and strong. Well obviously strong since he had no trouble carrying John. John opened his eyes to see George was the one carrying him. Of course. George was all about safety. John would have to send him a thank you note. That’s what you did when you wanted to thank someone right? Or was that another one of those weird southern things like greens, and the DAR, and muddin’? John contemplated that until he slipped into sleep. 

They woke John up long enough for him to take the tests the doctor wanted. They woke him up again to explain to him that he’d been drugged. John only could think, ‘No shit, Sherlock?’ but kept it to himself, only giggling outwardly. He rattled off all the different types of drugs commonly used for date rape that they had learned about in his modern medical applications class last semester and the doctor seemed impressed. A police woman showed up at the hospital apparently expecting John to be a female. John told her his story as best he could. Alex interrupted after every line to speak in whatever weird language he was speaking, but the policewoman seemed to like it better anyways. After it was all done, George wheeled John back out of the hospital and into the car. 

John groaned when he realized that he was being carried back into the gala. Really he just wanted to go home and curl up with Gil and sleep forever. Why couldn’t people see that? They made it inside just in time to see Herc drop down to one knee in the middle of the crowd. Peggy squealed and pulled him up into a kiss. Or maybe it was Gil that was squealing? John couldn’t tell. It didn’t really matter because the moment was beautiful, and they hadn’t missed it. John hollered his congrats as best he could. Then, like magic, there was Gil taking him from George. 

John decided he liked Gil’s arms much better. There was a familiar heartbeat and he smelled like home. Home, where John would like to be right now. He said as much. Gil called him Querido and promised they were going home. He had to go get the car but he would be right back. He sat John down on something small and soft. The small soft something cooed at him in French and slowly, an angel appeared in his vision. Oh, not an angel, just Adrienne. Same thing really. She giggled which just confirmed his suspicions that she was an angel who could read his thoughts. 

She looked so beautiful, he just had to kiss her. Would Gil care if he kissed an angel? Probably not. Would the angel care if he kissed her? She was saying no. John leaned up and kissed her, getting lost in the feeling of kissing someone so soft. He heard Gil chuckle from somewhere behind him. Then he felt Gil lifting him back up again. Could he kiss Gil now that he had kissed the angel? Even better, Gil was kissing him! John let himself fade into the kiss and then right from the kiss into sleep. 


	35. Chapter 35

John jerked awake, struggling against the hands that were trying to grab him. “Shh, HEY, woah there Peqeña. It’s just me. I’ve got you.” 

“Gonna be sick,” John got out before Gil helped him position himself over a trash can that was conveniently beside the bed. Gil held his flyaways back so that they didn’t get in his way. When he leaned back up away from the trashcan, Gil had a washcloth for his face and some water to drink. 

“Still feeling rough then?” Gil asked him, looking concerned. John drank his water and made sure his face was clean before burying his face back into Gil’s chest. He chuckled, stroking John’s back in a soothing manner. “I’ll take that as a yes. Trouble seems to be your middle name, mon amour. How much of last night do you remember?” 

John cleared his throat. His voice sounded weird even to him. “My last clear memory was talking to the head of surgery and realizing I couldn’t find you. Then some guy bought me a drink at the bar. Maybe more? I don’t remember. Then there was a group of people who all looked like Alex, George picked me up, a doctor told me something obvious, and here we are. That’s all I got,” he tried for details but everything felt like his memories were a patchwork quilt and all he could see were the individual threads. 

Adrienne came tiptoeing into the room carrying a platter of food, juice, and coffee. John’s stomach turned at the smell, but he could tell there was an undercurrent of hunger in the way it rumbled. Adrienne kissed his forehead before gingerly settling in on the side of him that Laf wasn’t on. “I’m sorry your first gala was such a clusterfuck, love. Has Gil filled you in yet?” 

John settled in between the two of them and the blanket. Even with the overlying sickness, he felt warm and safe in the moment. He shook his head and watched as Adrienne pulled out her phone. The first thing she pulled up was Herc’s Instagram page. His profile picture and most recent post was a professional shot of him on one knee, both he and Peggy smiling like there was no one better in the world but the other one. John couldn’t help but fawn over the picture of Peggy in her ring that she had posted as well as a picture of her in Herc’s arms, kissing his cheek while he smiled with his eyes closed. 

“I can’t believe I missed that!” John whined into a pillow. Adrienne and Gil both chuckled like they were sharing an inside joke. “What?” John asked cautiously. 

“Well, you didn’t necessarily miss it, you just don’t remember being there,” Adrienne went to the pictures on her camera roll. He could see Gil doing the same in his peripheral vision. The first picture she showed him was of John almost falling out of a very startled George’s arms while Alex was flailing looking like he didn’t know if he should help catch John or laugh. “This was when it happened, and you yelled something along the lines of ‘That’s what I’m talkin’ about!’ before Gil managed to get over to George and catch you. It was surprisingly in English since before you went to the doctor you were only speaking Spanish.” 

John groaned, embarrassment causing a blush to creep from his cheeks down his neck. Gil pulled his attention towards him, waiting for John to take the phone and flip through the pictures. The first one up was of John cradled in Adrienne’s arms, looking at her like she was a goddess. The next one was of John straddling her, same reverent look on his face. The last one in the series was of him passionately kissing her. John handed the phone back to Laf and buried himself under the covers. “I’m so sorry Adrienne. I don’t know what I was thinking that was so wrong of me…” 

He didn’t get very far into his apology when strong arms were lifting him back out from under the covers. “Querido, you’re gonna overheat under there. Besides, no one here is mad at you. You can’t help that you got drugged. Besides, you were very cute about it. You called Adri an angel and asked her permission before kissing her. Then you told me all about the kiss and wanted to kiss me too. It was very sweet, I promise.” 

John calmed down until Gil continued, “Unfortunately, the press are having a heart attack with all the things that happened yesterday.” He pulled up Facebook. His profile picture was a shot of Herc proposing to peggy where Gil was in the background squealing. The rest of the feed was different pictures of John. The first was him sitting in front of Gil, eyes looking unfocused and Gil looking concerned. The caption was, “When you drink too much and ‘Papi’ has to step in: Did John Laurens just admit that he had a daddy kink?” 

John quickly scrolled to the next one, a series of pictures of George carrying John to and from the car. “Senator George taking care of John: Sweet or Ulterior Motives? What kind of ‘motives’ would he have had?” John questioned while scrolling down. 

The last set was of John kissing Adrienne then John kissing Gil. The caption was, “Will John be the missing link to bring the Marquis and Marquise de Lafayettes back together?” 

“How long until this dies down?” John asked while flopping back down on the bed. He had no desire to deal with all the messages he knew he was going to have on every social media. Gil kissed his cheek and brushed his flyaways back into place. 

“Well, it’ll probably be soon given that we are leaving the country tomorrow. For now, we turn off the social media and eat some breakfast. We don’t worry about what they have to say, because they don’t matter. Before we eat though, can you remember anything about the guy who bought you the drink?” Gil was caressing his cheek and trying to comfort him. John leaned into the touch. 

“He was older. Said he knew you somehow. You too Adri. He had a silver ponytail. Was wearing a white suit. I can’t remember anything else. I’m sorry.” John felt kind of like crying. He didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t recall what had happened, and he knew it could have been worse but it still didn’t seem fair. As if he could pick up on John’s mood, Gil pulled him to his chest protectively. 

His gaze was dark. John noticed he and Adrienne having a silent conversation over his head. She broke it by pouring some of the coffee out of a thermos into a cup and handing it to Gil. Without looking at John, she stated, “We will catch him, and he will be punished. Easy as that, oui?” 

Gil kissed John’s head so he missed the look of angry determination that filled his features. “Oui.” 


	36. Chapter 36

“So what do I need to pack then? And do we need to leave soon to get through security? What time is our flight?” John asked as he paced around his room. He was antsy, and Laf could understand why. The media had been horrendous in the last twenty four hours, and John was ready to get away. Luckily, they had the perfect place to run to. 

“Relax, Pequeña. You only need to pack things you can’t live without. Cell phone, chargers, lap top, sketchbook, things of that nature. Herc had our outfits shipped over so we have full closets for the week. I promise my house has anything you could ever want. Even the plane will have all the amenities you could ask for. As for security, I fly private so there isn’t any of that. We will drive up to the plane, unload, and board. We will be in the air in a matter of minutes. It’s a 7 hour flight, but we’ve got plenty to do. Come here,” Laf wished that he could calm all of John’s fears, but he was internalizing so much that the older man wasn’t sure where to begin. John came over and laid his head on Laf’s shoulder. Laf wrapped protectively around him. “Put on your comfy clothes, pack your backpack, and just let me take care of the rest, ok?” 

Laf felt more than saw the small nod of confirmation from John. They stood together, quietly breathing and just being. Laf lived for the little moments of peace like this almost as much as the big flashy moments. Unfortunately, the moment was short lived. Adri spoke through the house speakers, “Attention, boys: The car will be here in 15 minutes. Please be by the front door and decent in that amount of time. Thank you!” 

John groaned, pulling away from Laf to gather his things. He picked up his ancient laptop and shoved it in his backpack before grabbing a couple of his school books, some flashcards, and his sketchbook. John had fallen into the habit of studying and making flashcards in Laf’s office while Laf was conducting meetings or developing technology and even one time when he was giving advice to a small country’s ruler on gun running. It was easy to just sit and cohabitate an area for a few hours where they could still be close even if they weren’t actively engaged. John would sometimes break the silence to tell Laf science jokes as he came up with them. It was such a small change from working alone, but one that meant the world to Laf, so he was excited to see that John was packing stuff to continue that trend in France. 

Shaking himself from his thoughts, Laf approached John. “Hey, I have something for you before we leave. If you want it. I thought that maybe it would help ease your anxiety in the future.” 

John slung his backpack over his shoulder before turning to face Laf. He had a quiet trusting smile on his face as he answered, “Of course, Papi, you know I love your gifts. What is it?” 

Laf pulled out a flat box from under the covers where he was sitting on John’s bed. “It’s just a little something I made and engineered.” 

John opened the box, wrapped in silver and black and signed in red, just like all of his gifts from Laf were. When he opened it, he looked at Laf excited but confused. In the box was two silver rings that matched two silver unbroken bands that could have been bracelets. “These are gorgeous! I wasn’t aware you were a jeweler,” John admired the bands as he spoke. 

Laf chuckled, having anticipated this conversation. “Well, they aren’t traditional jewelry. See, the bands and rings are actually small computers connected and linked to our body’s specific biochemistry. So my bracelet is always linked to your ring and yours is linked to mine. If you twist your ring to the left, it’s programmed to send your gps coordinates to the app that goes along with these as well as my bracelet. My bracelet will then act as almost a compass and a reassurance you’re there until we are in close enough proximity that we should be able to see each other. To navigate, the bracelet will light up different colors: white means forward, blue means left, green means right, and red means turn around and while we are searching for the other, the bracelets transmit our heartbeats back and forth so that I would know if you were panicked or drugged or anything was happening that might effect it either way. I went ahead and downloaded the app on both of our phones. The good thing about this is that while you might lose your phone, very few people are going to look at the modest silver bands and think to steal them. They also are resistant to anything that might usually block a signal and they work by satellite so even if I was halfway across the world, I would still be able to find you if you needed me. Twist the ring to the right and it turns on the heartbeat function without the gps panic signal. I figured it could be a signal to mean it was time to check in before the actual panic set in.” 

John was looking at Laf with a mixture of awe and tears. Afraid he overstepped his bounds, Laf backpedaled, “I mean we don’t have to wear them all the time or anything; I know that sometimes you just want to be alone and this would be kind of scary power to have over someone, but after losing you at the gala and then finding out that you had been drugged, I wanted a way for us to stay connected that was just for us. It works both ways, so we never have to be afraid of where the other is again…” 

John had laid a finger on his lips to silence him, tears still building in his eyes even with the sweet smile on his lips. In the quiet of the room, he moved Laf’s hand so that it was pointing up. He kissed Laf’s palm after sliding the bigger bracelet into place on his wrist. He then tipped his hand down and slid the matching ring into place, kissing the junction of finger and knuckle after the ring was slid into place. He held out his own hand, and Laf did the same with the other pieces of jewelry. John stepped into Laf’s arms once they were done and kissed him soundly. “Thank you for thinking about my fears and safety. I’m not sure how you managed to come up with this concept and produce it in two days, but I definitely appreciate it more than you know.” 

Laf smiled and buried his face in John’s curls as they hugged. “Well, I’m not magic. I’ve actually been working on it since the apartment break-in. But in light of recent events, I was highly motivated to finish it. Wanna give it a try?” 

John hesitatingly twisted his band to the right. His eyes lit up as he presumably felt Laf’s pulse against his wrist and wrapped his hand around Laf’s bracelet to feel his own pulse there. “As excited as I am that we have these, I can’t help but imagine the impact that these could have on the private medicine community! Are you planning on mass producing these?” John quickly delved back into the frame of a scientist which Laf loved to watch. He let him go on for a bit about what a medical marvel these could be before Laf stopped him with a kiss. 

“For now, we are the only ones in the world who know about these and own them. Not even Adri or Herc know about them. So, until I think the world is ready for it, these are just for you and me, Querido.” Laf stood up and pulled John along with him towards the door, “Now come on, we have a plane to catch, and Adri will be upset if we aren’t waiting by the door.” 


	37. Chapter 37

John had been on planes many times before. He hated going through the TSA lines, hated ‘random’ checks, hated sitting in terminals because of delays or planes being over booked. Even riding in the plane itself was a hassle. They were always uncomfortable, and he always found himself thanking whatever deity was out there that he wasn’t the tallest guy in the world because he could deal just fine with the minimum leg space afforded him. 

When Herc drove them past the main airport and out to a smaller back section, John couldn’t help but be confused. He had looked to Gil for reassurance, and Gil had patted his knee and wiggled his eyebrows in a way that really shouldn’t have been as cute as it was. Adrienne was tapping away on her phone, and only contributing to the conversation in short bursts of French directed at Gil, more than likely about business. 

The car pulled up to a seemingly random part of the runway and stopped. Herc wished them all the best, a happy flight, and a restful thanksgiving. They wished him the same, as well as the best of luck with Senator Schuyler. Then they got out of the car, and John saw why they weren’t concerned about security or getting anywhere near the actual airport. A beautiful 757 jet was standing proud in front of them with a set of steps open to the loading galley. The plane itself was a beautiful shade of navy with a golden crest and cursive that said ‘Lafayette’ down the side of the plane. 

“You have your own plane?” John asked in awe. Adrienne rolled her eyes and tapped his chin in a silent reminder to stop gawking. Gil chuckled from where he was grabbing both John’s backpack and his own briefcase from the trunk. 

“Of course. It would be impractical for me to not have one. Just wait until you see the inside,” Gil grabbed his hand and led him up the steps into the plane. Adrienne was talking to the pilot and stewardess in French, seemingly having a friendly conversation. Gil gave them a quick wave before pulling John out of the galley and into the main body of the plane. “So this part looks like first class seating on steroids and it’s where my business partners ride on shorter trips. We won’t be up here much: just for landing and take-off. Back here is the main entertainment room where you can watch TV, movies, or the DVR from home. I can have them set up video games, too, if you wanted for the flight back. Here’s the dining room and guest bathroom. Back there to the left is the guest bedroom, and _this_ ,” Gil stopped in front of a door before opening it with a mischievous grin, “Is the master bedroom.” 

The whole plane had been opulent to the point of ridiculousness, and the master bedroom was no different. A large bed was in the back corner of the room with a full desk at the foot and a small sitting area to the side with a door to a full bathroom in the back. Everything had the “Marquis de Lafayette” crest on it: it was embroidered in the pillows, embossed in the headrests, and on display on the TVs when they were idle. “This is… so much,” John breathed out as he did a full turn to take in everything. 

“It’s a little over the top, but it was a gift that I couldn’t say no to. I love sleeping back here during the flight.” John couldn’t tell that Gil was approaching him from behind until his hands had found his hips and his breath was hot on the back of his neck right below his ear, “Voulez-vous joindre à moi dans le lit?” 

John shivered as his hands moved up under his shirt and the cold band on his wrist brushed against his abs. John assumed he said something sexual, and would have gladly followed Gil’s lead if Adri hadn’t shown up in the doorway. She laughed at Gil and swatted his hands out from under John’s shirt. “Can you at least wait until we take off? Then you’ll have 7 hours. I promise I won’t interrupt. Now we have to go strap in for take off.” 

They walked all the way back up to the sitting area of the plane. The pilot hugged Gil and shook hands with John before settling into the cockpit. Adrienne strapped on a headset and followed him, winking at John. As they strapped in, Gil chuckled. “What’s funny?” John asked him. 

“Well, the pilot, Jacques, has been teaching Adri how to fly. Adri had no desire to learn how to fly until I hired, Jacques, and yet she insists that there’s nothing going on between them. We won’t see her until we touch down, I guarantee,” he shared practically giggling. John couldn’t help but smile, too. It would be awesome if Adri had found someone she was interested in. 

“Alright, kids, this is your co-pilot speaking. We are about to take off at local time 10:37 AM. We will be landing in France at approximately 6 PM local time or midnight _correct_ time. Please stay buckled until the cabin lights flash,” Adri’s voice filled the cabin. John laughed at her slight nationalism in regards to the time. 

John looked at Gil as the plane left the ground. “We are going to have to go to bed as soon as we get there,” he pouted. He didn’t know if Gil had included time to sightsee while they were in France, but he did at least want to see some of the country. 

Gil smirked and cupped John’s chin. “Don’t worry, mon amour. You will be plenty worn out. We have 7 hours for me to make sure of that.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Voulez-vous joindre à moi dans le lit : Will you join me in bed


	38. Chapter 38

The first two hours had been fun, but entering the third hour, John, although impressed with Gil’s endurance, felt like he was being tortured. “Please, Papi, please, tell me what I have to do to be able to cum. I’ll do anything, please.” 

“Aw, Querido, you’re not tired of the game yet are you?” Gil cooed from where he was sitting behind John straddling his back and edging him again. They had been at this in different positions and styles since they had made it to the bedroom. 

His grip on John’s swollen dick was light and not nearly enough. John whimpered and thrust up involuntarily. He knew that Gil wasn’t going to let him orgasm until he was ready, but his body apparently didn’t understand that, jerking and thrusting in response to his touches as if it had its own agenda. John whimpered as Gil’s thumb brushed over his over-sensitive cockhead. Their sweaty bodies were flushed and sticking together from exertion. John laid his head back on Gil’s shoulder as his hand worked him over. Gil’s teeth skimmed the shell of John’s ear before moving down to worry new spots or darken older marks on John’s neck. John focused on holding onto Gil’s knees like he was told to do to keep from spilling over without permission. 

When he got too close, he would squeeze Gil’s knee. Gil kissed him and told him how good he was being, but still would take his hand off of John and kiss him and make him relax until he was far enough away from the edge to start again. Each time took longer to come down from and a shorter time to reach the same feeling, and John was slowly getting lost in a hazy constant state of arousal. The only thing reminding him he was real was Gil’s lips and hands on his body and his voice in his ear. “You look so gorgeous when you’re worked up like this. I bet all you can think about is how badly you want me to fuck you. Is that true? You thinking about how nice it would feel to be bent over and used until I fill you up?” 

John felt himself lightly humping the air, but couldn’t bring himself to care. Gil held his hips down to the bed, drawing out a whimper from him. “Answer me. If you don’t answer I can’t take care of you, baby.” 

John searched for words in his cloudy thoughts. “Papi, please. Damelo duro ! Quiero que me cojas! ” 

Gil chuckled, lust tinging his normal tone to make it lower and rougher, “You’re so far gone, aren’t you? That’s ok, Papi’s got you.” 

Gil tipped him forward, arranging his legs so that his knees were pressed into the bedding. At first John rested on his hands, but Gil pushed on his upper back until his face was resting on the comforter and his arms were stretched out at his sides. He ran his hands up and down John’s thighs, gently caressing behind his knees and the cleft of his ass where he knew he was the most sensitive. John couldn’t see from where he was, or maybe his eyes were just closed. He didn’t know and didn’t care as he reveled in the feel of Laf’s fingers tracing closer to his ass. Without warning, Gil added a new sensation, biting down on the rise of his ass before trailing little bites down his thigh and up the other side. John pressed back into each bite trying to say how much he needed more without using words. Gil hummed into each movement, tracing his tongue from bite to bite and continuing to be a tease. John heard a whine in the room, and it took him longer than he’d like to admit to realize that it was coming from him. 

Gil gripped his hip and his hair, putting pressure on each. “Shhh, Querido, I have you. Shhh.” 

Slowly, he pushed in. He had prepped him right before the last edge, but the lube had dried a little in the in between. Each thrust a little further in was a drag that burned just right, putting John in that spot between pleasure and pain. He moaned loud and long before Gil finally bottomed out with a groan of his own. When he pulled out, he leaned forward just enough to shift the angle and slide two fingers in John’s mouth. John immediately sucked, and Gils hips thrust forward of their own accord, showing for the first time that he was just as affected by the edging and teasing as John. 

“Con cuidado, Papi! Eres enorme,” John moaned around Gil’s fingers. His response sounded like a literal growl that went straight to John’s dick causing it to twitch. 

“Dirty little boy. You want more of Papi’s big cock? Want me to go faster? Harder?” Gil tugged on his hair to punctuate each phrase. John could only whimper and nod, words finally completely gone. 

“I think I’ll stay nice and slow,” Gil demonstrated as he talked, rolling his hips so that John’s dick twitched every time his head pressed on his prostate. “You’re so pliant beneath me just waiting to be able to cum, and you’ve been _such_ a good boy for me. Just a little longer, Querido. I’ll make sure you’re satisfied.” 

The constant, steady roll of his hips made John start to see stars, but the buildup was slow, and John was so impatient. He reached to touch himself and make it go a little faster. Gil saw what he was doing and moved his hand off his hip to swat John’s hand away. Not understanding fully, John tried with the other hand. “Now, Querido. If you can’t follow the rules, I’ll stop right now and neither of us will finish. Do you want that?” 

John shook his head sharply. He was just so full of need, but if he had to, he could wait for it. “How about this: put your wrists behind your back,” Gil instructed, grabbing his wrists once they were in place and holding them firm. John could feel his fingers digging into old bruises there and he sucked hard on Gil’s fingers still in his mouth in response. Gil went back to the same slow pace he started with. John whimpered, getting increasingly close to the edge and afraid that Gil was going to make them stop again. 

Seeming to read his thoughts, Gil started thrusting a little harder without changing the speed. “You’re so tight, little one. Feel so nice wrapped around my dick. You’re so close aren’t you? Think we can come together? I’m getting close.” 

As his thrusts got more erratic, he pulled his fingers from John’s mouth, wiping them down his back before grabbing his hip for more leverage. John cried out as he held himself off from orgasming too soon. Gil could feel the amount of restraint he was showing and slammed into him hard. With a curse, he placed his hand on John’s dick and stroked him in time to his own steady thrusts. After two or three strokes, they both managed to orgasm at the same time, Gil continuing to thrust even after his was done to make sure he caught all of John’s spend in his hand. 

Gil pulled out slowly afterwards, both of them hissing at the drag. He was about to get up and get a tissue when John reached up and pulled him down on top of him. Locking eyes with Gil, John licked his own release from his hand, tongue dancing over his open palm and across his fingers until it was clean. Gil let out a groan as John smirked from under him. He kissed the smirk from his face and settled down to where he could relax with John pinned underneath him. 

“Round two?” John asked after they had drifted into the space between the post orgasm haze and napping. Gil laughed openly and kissed his nose. 

“Already ready to go again? After all that?” He brushed his hand across John’s thighs, and even that small touch was too much for John still, letting out a little gasp. “I’m guessing that’s a no, although it would be fun to test your oversensitivity someday when we aren’t stuck in the jet.” 

John hummed in agreement, already feeling exhaustion hitting him hard. He snuggled further under Gil and peppered his shoulder with kisses. Before they fell asleep, John heard Gil chuckle to himself. 

“What is it, Papi?” he asked, nuzzling into the bigger man’s chest. 

Gil kissed the parts of John’s face he could get to and gently traced nonsense patterns into his torso. “I just realized that we were now a part of the mile high club. Struck me as funny for some reason.” 

John laughed a little as well, more at the ridiculousness of his boyfriend than at the statement, and he told him as much. Content and sexed out, they fell asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damelo duro ! Quiero que me cojas! = Give it to me hard! I want you to fuck me!  
> Con cuidado, Papi! Eres enorme. = Careful, Papi! You're huge.


	39. Chapter 39

Waking up didn’t feel real to John. He was groggy, head slightly spinning, and he felt as if he was still surrounded by clouds minus the protection of the jet. The only normal thing about waking up was the arm protectively draped over his midsection, hand splayed so that it took up as much room on his abs as it could, generally holding him to the warm heat behind him and the comfort of the bed below him. As he woke up more, he started to take in his surroundings, recognizing nothing but the man behind him. He spent a second clutching at the comforter and sheets trying to imagine how high the thread count must be for them to feel the way they did. Looking up, he admired the dark wood of the bedframe as well as the blood read canopy that framed the bed itself. He turned, sitting up on his arm a little. “Pssst. Papi, wake up,” he whispered to not disturb the silence of the morning. He didn’t see a clock anywhere or either of their phones, so he wasn’t sure of the time or even where they were. 

Gil’s hand flailed around gently before finally finding John’s face to attempt to caress his cheek before pulling him back down to the mattress without opening his eyes. John whined as Gil tucked him under his body, refusing to get up. “Come _on_ , Papi. You have to get up. I need to potty, and I sure as heck don’t know which door goes to the bathroom.” 

Gil finally cracked an eye open and within a minute was fully awake as if he had forgotten that they weren’t at home in the apartment. He stretched, the sheets pooling on his lap. The burgundy of the sheets were rich, and the picture of Gil having just woken up but looking completely at home surrounded by opulence was not one John would ever forget. He rolled to the edge of the bed, swinging his feet over and doing… something that John couldn’t see. Then he pulled on the most ridiculous crushed red-velvet robe and walked around the bed to John’s side. “Well, c’mere, Pequeña. We can stop by the bathroom, and then I can show you the rest of the house.” 

He pulled John to the edge of the bed, making him put on slippers and a matching ridiculous robe of his own. “You’re going to be thankful for the slippers. I don’t know why designers thought that only tile with some rugs here and there was the way to go, but they did and the floors are freezing until the floor heaters kick on. Not fun first thing in the morning. Now, your bathroom or mine?” Gil asked with a wink. 

John let him pick, and soon they were walking through one of the three doors in the room. “What we stayed in is the bedroom of the master suite. The door directly across from the bed leads to the master sitting room, which leads to the master parlor and out into the hallway of the upstairs. The door across from this one leads to my personal library, my master bathroom, and then my closet. This is your ‘powder room’ that Adri is thinking about remodeling into a study/studio for if we want to come here in the summers or for extended breaks. The next room is your bathroom, and on the far side of that is your closet with all the stuff Herc sent over for us to wear. There’s no one but us and the some of the staff in today so we can just kick it in the robes if you want until later.” 

The ‘powder room’ was the size of John’s bedroom in the apartment, and the bathroom seemed to be around the same size. There was a fancy looking ‘natural’ shower in the back corner of the room with more knobs than John really knew what to do with. There was a palatial bathtub across from the sinks and counter that could have probably held a family of four without them touching. And finally, there was a really elaborate looking toilet with arm rests in the opposite corner of the room. 

There were picture instructions above the toilet which John promptly ignored as he sat down. The armrest lit up and different buttons came into view. When John finished his business, he gently pressed the button that looked like it meant flush. When a stream of water hit his nether region, he slammed down the lid of the toiled and was on his feet across the bathroom in a heartbeat with an elegantly yelled, “Holy Fuck!” 

Gil knocked on the door and came in, looking a strange mixture of concerned and confused. “Are you ok, Pequeña? I thought I heard you yell.” 

John blushed and tried to hide his embarrassment. “I think your toilet is broken or something; it sprayed me with water,” he mumbled. 

Gil froze for a moment before bursting into raucous laughter. After taking a moment for a few deep breaths, he pressed a button on the arm that actually flushed the toilet and turned to John. “I’m sorry, mon chou. I forget that you don’t have many bidets in America.” 

John stomped out of the bathroom and Gil followed spewing half-hearted apologies and giggling when he couldn’t contain it anymore. “If I promise to walk you through everything in this home until it feels like your own from now on, can we kiss and make up? I truly am sorry that you got embarrassed.” 

When John met his eyes, he really did look at least a little remorseful, and he had the same nervous expression of the first time they’d gone on a date, or combined schedules, or showed him his apartment. John considered for a moment the fact that the only people to have ever seen his house were Herc and Adri and the fact that maybe he was … nervous. John conceded his momentary embarrassment in favor of his love’s arms. He kissed him until they were both breathless. Gil was the first to pull away and comment, “Or we could stay in here and in bed all day. That’s a good idea, too.”

John grabbed his hands and made a fake pout, “I think I deserve breakfast after my traumatic experience.” 

Both smiling, they made their way out the door bedroom door. 


	40. Chapter 40

Laf walked through the silent halls of the giant house he had once called home, animatedly giving a history of each room to John who looked a little on the queasy side of excited. His ‘house’ was enormous. Boasting more than 60,500 square feet of living space at three floors and a massive subterranean garage in the main house alone, not to mention the guest house and the in laws addition, the house was easy to get turned around in at best. Laf had been kind of relieved that John had slept through being carried into the master bedroom that night so he could experience it with fresh eyes that morning. 

“So I forgot to mention that if you go out of my library down a little hall we have private balconies and a small pool. Currently we are standing in the _rostrum_ ,” he rolled his r and used a fake accent to make John laugh before continuing, “Which for all I care is code for ‘glorified stair hallway’. Over there, opposite where we came out is the VIP suite, which is like the master suite but for one person instead of two and doesn’t have a library or powder room, and two other guest rooms and some bathrooms. We can go explore them later, but since there are technically 11 bedrooms and 17 bathrooms in the main house, it gets kind of redundant.” 

“I’m cool with not looking at them now, but I have an idea for later. Have you ever heard of a whore tour?” John asked casually, taking in the artwork on the walls and the different architectural elements in the room. 

“A what?” Laf asked suspiciously as he pulled John towards the stairs. 

“At the college, the term is used when you go to each of the fraternities in one night looking to get laid at each one. I was thinking we could re-appropriate the term and have sex in every bed in the house,” his smirk grew as he kept talking. Laf couldn’t help but stop the just starting tour to pick John up and kiss him against the stair railing. 

“Why stop at the beds? There are couches. And countertops. And showers. And tables…” Laf punctuated each sentence with a kiss somewhere new on John’s face. John laughed and squirmed until his feet were back on the ground and he was pulling Laf down the stairs. 

When John got to the bottom, he turned around and gasped. The double marble staircases really were a sight to see if you’d never seen them before as well as the beautiful hanging chandelier that lit the main hall. Laf kept walking leading John through the formal dining room and through the south turret to the catering stairs. “So down here is the entertainment area. The front is the main garage where I keep all my cars that I don’t really drive and bikes that Adri won’t let me ride. The center area is the IMAX. We can fit 18 people easy and we have a mock lounge with a popcorn maker and other traditional theater amenities. We are standing in the catering kitchen. There are two staff bedrooms to the back that are as well stocked as the VIP suite, and past the theater on the other side is bowling and a small go-kart course. Then the rest is holiday storage and guest bedrooms.” 

John’s eyes were the size of saucers. Laf gave his hand a reassuring squeeze, and he returned a shaky, but excited smile. “You doing ok there, Pequeña?” 

John sighed before cuddling under Laf’s arm. “Your home is so large. There’s so much to do! I can’t imagine growing up in a place like this.” 

Laf led John back up the stairs after they had wandered through some of the amusements in the basement. Laf was trying to decide whether he wanted to talk to John about his childhood or not. Eventually, once they’d made it back upstairs, he decided he would. “Honestly, growing up here was interesting. I lived in the lap of luxury. But it was so lonely. My parents were always cautious with my friends because there was a high possibility they were after my money instead of me. Instead of friends, I was in a bunch of social clubs where everyone tried to ‘out rich’ each other. I had tutors who I drove absolutely wild because they were really my only interaction throughout the day. That all changed when I turned 13. My father set me up with Adrienne. We were just children, but we both knew that we were expected to marry when the time came. Honestly, we were both excited to have a promised companion. Don’t get me wrong, there were days when we fought like the dickens, but we always made up because neither of us had any other friends and needed each other. It was just a bonus that we were both wonderful people. When we were young and naïve, we would try to fool around occasionally, but it never felt right. I remember crying in Adri’s lap one night while she explained that it was okay to not like girls, and that she would help me ‘find a good man’ instead. I was just so blessed that even after the arrangement was off, she was still permitted to, and wanted to, come over and stay by my side.” 

By the time he had finished talking, he had paraded John across the entryway through the card room, the sunroom, the side living area, and the main lounge. John was looking very small in comparison to the windows over-looking the courtyard and the infinity pool. He locked eyes with Laf and pulled him in close. “I can only imagine the shenanigans you two got into in a house like this where I bet you weren’t allowed to touch anything. Hell, I’m 21 and I’m terrified to touch anything,” John tried to joke but it wasn’t as effective as there was obvious anxiety in his voice. Laf hummed then pulled him into the kitchen finally, the only room in the house that felt warm and inviting to him with its dark wood and dark mixed marble countertops. 

He picked John up and sat him down on the counter a little to the side of the stove while he gathered the ingredients for brunch. Once he was started cooking, he looked up to where John was chewing his lip nervously. “What’s wrong, Querido?” 

John shook his head a little before answering. “I’m just used to… all of _this_! Like, this is crazy nice, but it’s also terrifying because I _know_ how much countertops like these cost, and I know that it’s like my tuition thrice over, and you just like casually sat my naked ass right on here and are you crazy? I just don’t know that I belong in a place like this…” 

He trailed off and looked away, obviously feeling a little vulnerable and open. Laf moved so that he was between John’s legs and lifted him so that he was on the edge of the counter mainly wrapped around Laf. “You absolutely belong in a place like this, especially since you are humble enough to not see that you are more perfect to look at than any piece of art or architecture in this over-expensive home of mine. Now look at me, listen,” Laf tipped John’s chin so that he was keeping eye contact and ran a hand through his hair to brace him and also just because he liked the way it felt on his fingers, “I put you up here because there is nothing in this house that is as beautiful to me as you: your pretty freckles and skin, your gorgeous eyes, and a body that I’ve loved since the moment I saw it.” He ran his fingers gently over the bridge of his nose and across his cheek bones before trailing across his lips, “So don’t you dare for a moment think that you are anything but the most valuable thing in this whole damn house. Now, be a good boy and relax. Let, Papi, take care of you.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to WrongRemedy, the love of my life, for the inspiration for the kitchen scene. I know I left the end of the scene hanging, but I felt like it ended there and I'm the author so sorry :) 
> 
> Here is the inspiration for Laf's humble abode if you want to copy and paste any of these links:  
> http://homesoftherich.net/2016/04/floor-plans-to-the-60000-square-foot-le-palais-royal-oceanfront-mega-mansion-in-hillsboro-beach-fl/#prettyPhoto  
> http://homesoftherich.net/2014/09/le-palais-royal-a-139-million-60000-square-foot-mega-mansion-in-hillsboro-beach-fl/#prettyPhoto[pp_gal]/14/  
> http://miami.curbed.com/2014/9/4/10051104/the-most-expensive-listing-in-the-us-is-a-139-million-house-in-fort
> 
> And once again, thank you for reading! Find me on tumblr at smilingsarah10


	41. Chapter 41

John was practically dragging an exasperated Adrienne through the streets of Paris as they went around to see the sights. Gil was… somewhere in the general vicinity of the Eiffel Tower where they would be having lunch, having had to take a couple of business calls before joining them in the city. Which had left Adrienne to follow behind John as he marveled at the different museum options around the city. So far, they had eaten a picnic breakfast in the Luxembourg Gardens, and spent the majority of the morning at Musee de l'Orangerie looking primarily at the Monets. John had drug his feet in leaving. He liked to get to know each piece of art personally. He had the same approach to his studies as he did to his art: each task had a history and a story behind it, every assignment, every theory, every person, and every painting. In order to get the full picture, he needed to take it apart and see the history first. 

Adrienne found his dedication to each piece charming, but as they got closer to lunch and John became quieter and quieter, the thought struck her that if John was like this at a smaller museum, there was no way they were going to get the Louvre done in a day like she had hoped. As she and John rushed to lunch, she broke the news to him. “I will not be taking you to the Louvre. You will have to go with Gil. I cannot stand to watch you lust over another painting,” she joked. 

John was well aware that his appreciation of art was daunting to others when he was only appreciating he art and could imagine that it was little fun to be stuck talking to the wall that was him absorbed in his own head, so he laughed along with Adri instead of being disappointed. They had a conversation before they even left the house that John was not going to be able to do everything on this trip alone, but Gil had assured him that there would be many more trips if that is what John wanted. John hadn’t realized that was something he did want until it became an option. 

Actually, John had to admit at least to himself, part of the reason he had taken so long in the museum is because he would get lost in his personal thoughts in the middle of his also lengthy inner monologue about the art. He thought about the couple of days he had been in France. Day one had been a rest and recuperation day from jetlag and then his initial shock to the size of the house. Monday was another lazy day around the house spent listening to Adrienne and Gil tell stories from their youth: the first time Adrienne had come over and accidentally broken the Marquise’s favorite vase and Gil took the blame, the time that Gil had tripped over a girl’s feet while dancing and Adrienne had spent a week reteaching him how to dance, and the emotional reunion the first time Adrienne was allowed to come over after their ‘break up’. 

It had been interesting to listen to them talk about their time being married. They worked much better as friends and business partners than they did as a couple is what they insisted, and John figured they would know better than he would. Them talking about marriage while he was curled up on the couch with Gil had inspired his thoughts for the rest of that afternoon and the next morning. 

John didn’t often let his mind wander to the future. He had never seen himself in that ‘nuclear’ family setting. His job was going to be demanding at best, and he had always seen himself as being married to his career. And he hadn’t necessarily changed his mind about that. He was more driven than ever to become a top surgeon, but some of that was definitely attributed to his drive to be as successful as Gil someday. Gil was supportive, affording him as much time to himself as he needed, studying with him, and celebrating his successes and losses just as much as John supported him in his business and personal pursuits. He had never thought of having a partner as something other than a distraction; now he was having a hard time seeing a future without one. 

So he gave himself some leeway that morning in the museum to truly consider the future. He considered what it might be like to marry Gil. He thought about asking Alex to be his best man. He thought about Gil at the end of the aisle crying like the sap he was when it came to tender moments. He thought about making their lives work: what would he need to do to practice in France? Would Gil want to move back to France or would they want to stay stateside? John thought about Gil’s fondness and affinity for babies. Would they want a family? Would they want a large family or a small one? Would they adopt or find a surrogate? Would he even be a good father? 

All these questions and ideas pooled around in John’s head until Adrienne pulled him into the courtyard of the Eiffel Tower. In a small section with a blanket laid out in front of him and a ridiculously large picnic basket, the man of his daydreams was in the flesh. Gil got up from where he was lounging, and John ran to him and flung himself into his arms. “Merde, Pequeña, I just saw you this morning, and yet you seem so excited to see me. Was Adrienne such bad company?” 

Being back in France was bringing back his accent in full force. John couldn’t help but swoon a little. Adrienne rolled her eyes and went for the wine bottle that she somehow knew was in the top of the basket. “He’s been so introspective all day, Gil, it probably feels like years since he had last seen you.” 

Gil held John’s face gently in between his hands and brushed his thumbs across John’s cheeks, looking in his eyes with concern. “Everything is ok? Hopefully lost in all good thoughts, oui?” 

“Of course,” John replied, feeling a wild smile spread across his cheeks. They had been good thoughts, hadn’t they? “Art just makes me emotional. You know that.” 

Gil’s eyes sparkled in the way they always did when they were looking at John. John wondered if maybe that was the manifestation of the beginnings of something deeper: the spark before the flame. There was no time to put a word to it, but he knew that someday he would. Gil kissed his nose and pulled him down onto the blanket. “Alright you two, tell me your favorite parts of being a tourist for the day then; I’m dying to hear.” 


	42. Chapter 42

John could tell that Gil was watching him more than he was watching the ballet in front of them, but he didn’t mind. John had grown used Gil looking at him: sometimes it was contemplative like he was trying to solve a puzzle, sometimes it was gentle like John was made of something highly fragile that even a wrong look could break, but times like this where Gil was devouring him with his eyes were his favorite. He had been taking him apart with glances since they had gotten dressed to come back to the theater that they had spent the afternoon touring. Everytime John had looked up, Gil had met his eyes with confidence, not afraid to own up to his wandering eyes which in itself was turning John on and driving him a little crazy. 

Sometime in the middle of the ballet, Gil had turned the heartbeat function on the bracelets on. The consistency of the heartbeat relaxed John, although he couldn’t figure out why Gil had wanted it on. When they got up to leave, Gil crowded his space using the cover of the mass exodus of people to mask his wandering hands. John’s heartrate picked up as he got more aroused, and that’s when he realized the game Gil was playing. John’s bracelet was giving up a quickening pulse as well, revealing Gil’s excitement on a biological level. Blocking out the roar of the crowd, Gil whispered in John’s ear, “Do you feel what you do to me, Querido? The way you make my heart race without even trying?” 

Gil’s voice dropped from lusty to filled with awe and realization, “And I feel you getting excited, too. Do I make you excited, John?” 

They were almost outside now, and Gil was going to pull away before John was ready. He continued whispering, slowing them down, “Tell me then, Querido, if you have such awesome power over me and I over you, that one look can control the very beating of the others heart, does that make me yours or does that make you _mine_?” He finished his question with a nip to John’s ear. John, not caring about where they were, where they were going, or who saw spun around and pulled Gil down for a kiss. Their heart rates continued to elevate following the wave of emotions flowing through the motion of John’s lips against Gil’s. John only broke away to breathe, and in the second that took, Gil was pulling him towards the car that was waiting with Adrienne in it to take them home. 

Gil turned the bracelets off while they were on the ride home and were sitting far enough apart that their heart rates were returning to normal. Conscious of the time difference, John shot a quick text to Alex. _‘How do you know if you’re in love?’_

John tried to pay attention to the conversation that Adri was having with Gil, but it seems irrelevant. Apparently, the house’s normal head of security was back from sick leave for the night, but had requested to take personal time of the rest of the week. Adrienne was saying, “It’s bizarre, but El has always been reliable in the past. He came on not long after you left, Gil so he’s been around for a good while. I’m worried something is wrong.” 

John looked at his phone when it buzzed, tuning back out of the conversation. Alex, always quick to respond, replied in a full page of exclamation points, followed by a question. _‘Are you in love with Gilbert?’_

John looked at Gil bathed in moonlight, looking out the window with a soft far away smile. He thought about all the moments he wished he could remember in immaculate detail to capture forever with paint on canvas and how if he actually did that he’d need a museum just for their memories. He thought of all the mornings that they would wake up together, and the evenings where Gil was his last vision before closing his eyes. As they pulled into the driveway, John quickly shot back a response. _‘Yeah. I think I am.’_

John barely had time to get his phone in his pocket before Laf was yelling a goodnight to Adrienne as she walked over to the in-laws house that she claimed as her own and carrying him into the house and up the stairs to their room. 

John and Gil stripped each other as they progressed through the master suite, dropping suit jackets, shoes, and shirts like breadcrumbs that would lead from the bedroom back to the hallway. As Gil’s teeth found John’s collarbone, he prayed that he would never live a day in the rest of his life unmarked if he was going to be marked like this. John sucked on two of his own fingers, making them drip before using them to work himself open, much to Gil’s delight. Gil found the lube while John was fucking himself on his fingers and slicked himself up at the same pace John was thrusting. He guided John onto his lap and thrust into him slowly, sensually before gradually building up the pace until he was slamming into John with abandon. When he got close, he placed a slick hand on John’s dick. “Whose boy are you, Querido?” he asked, voice low and cracked. 

John moaned out, “Yours, Papi, yours!” Gil tipped over the edge not long afterwards. Gil used his dress shirt to clean them up, promising John that he would get it washed before Herc saw it. John would have protested more, but he could see the exhaustion that he felt reflected back to him in Gil’s face. Before drifting off, John nuzzled Gil and asked quietly, “Whose man are you, Papi?” 

Gil responded, “Yours. Always yours, Querido.” 

John was vaguely aware of Gil getting out of bed in the middle of the night. He could feel the touch of Gil’s lips as he hushed John’s whines and said, “Shhh, I just have to potty, then I’ll be right back to bed.” 

John had drifted back off almost immediately afterward. When he woke up the next morning, it was to an empty bed. John padded out the main master suite doors to the kitchen, calling out for Gil. He didn’t start to panic until he realized that there was no one in the house at all but him. 


	43. Chapter 43

“You’ve got to stop panicking, John. He’s probably just gone for a walk or something,” Adrienne murmured sleepily, coming in through the kitchen door and having a teacup full of coffee thrust in her general direction. 

“I will _not_ stop panicking, and he didn’t just up and decide to go for a stroll in the middle of the night after sex. He was _tired_ , exhausted really, so I was even surprised that he made it up to go to the bathroom,” John explained as Adrienne sipped her coffee and pulled her hair back in a bun. This was the first time he had ever seen her without her makeup and hair done, and it probably had something to do with the fact that it wasn’t even six in the morning yet after a night at the opera. 

Slowly, she looked over John before making her descision. “Alright, here’s what we are going to do. We are going to walk through every inch of this house to make sure he’s absolutely not here. Then I’m going to call the head of security so that we can check the cameras,” John sputtered and turned red for a second causing Adrienne to stop, “What?” 

John was flushed different shades of red. “I just wasn’t aware that there were cameras.” 

Adrienne, finding at least a little humor in the exchange, replied, “Of course there are cameras. It’s for your safety. Don’t worry, we only sell the sex scenes to the highest bidder.” 

John gave her a look that he hoped conveyed all of his distaste for that joke, prompting her to get serious and continue. “I’m sure this will be cleared up when we check the cameras, but if not, I will call Herc and he can turn on tracking for Gil. You ready?” 

John nodded and followed Adri through the house. They knocked on the doors to the staff quarters, asking if either the cook or the maid had seen Gilbert. They both sleepily said no, but agreed to check the actual grounds of the estate. They found the spare bedrooms immaculately clean and empty. They turned all the lights on in the theater, looked behind the concession stand, and raided the film room. The go kart rink sat empty, and the storage area contained only bins of decorations and family portraits long forgotten. 

Adrienne started to look more concerned when she and John ran through the garage and all the cars and bikes were accounted for. The tension in her body grew as it became apparent that he wasn’t in any of the rooms on the first floor either: having thoroughly checked the pantry, under the billiards table, and in the china closet. She was practically running by the time they ascended the stairs to the top floor. There was no one in the VIP suite or the guest bedrooms. Adrienne burst through the doors of the master suite, running through the parlor and sitting room narrowly avoiding tripping over clothes scattered around from the night before. In the master bedroom, she practically ripped doors off their hinges in her search through John’s side of the suite before a look of desperation passed through her features and she stormed off to his side. The only thing in the library was Gil’s massive collection of books. The hallway was bare, and there was no one on either balcony or in the pool. Finally, Adrienne collapsed after searching the bathroom and closet, realization that maybe John was right visibly creeping in her demeanor. 

Reaching over for the landline, she hit the pound key followed by some four digit number. When there was no response on the fourth try, she slammed the phone down on the receiver and took a deep breath. John waited for her to calm down before she spoke. “The head of security is not answering. Which means he is absolutely fired when we get down to his office. I’m gonna call Herc and give him a rundown while we walk over there.” 

John listened intently to the sound of the phone ringing through to Herc. It would be between midnight and one back in the city. He wondered vaguely if Alex was awake. He resolved that he would wait and call him only if something else developed. Adrienne didn’t let Herc get a greeting in before getting down to business. “Gilbert is missing and the head of security won’t answer.” 

John couldn’t hear what Herc was saying, but he noticed when Adrienne picked up the pace to get to what looked like a small hut at the edge of the property. “No, I don’t think he ran off this time. No, there wasn’t any sign of struggle; I just have a really bad feeling. Yes, we are walking into the security hut now. Yes I can patch in your video code. You ready with the laptop?” 

The security hut was a giant collection of screens and switches labeled with each rooms name in the entire house as well as different sections of the property. There was a large red button type switch in the corner labeled ‘LOCKDOWN’, and then four smaller notches labelled 1, 2, 3, and 4. Adrienne sat down at the main seat in the middle of the room and picked up a radio that had been cast aside on the floor while typing furiously on the keyboard in front of her. As she spoke into the receiver, a haggard looking Herc appeared on one of the bottom rows of blank screens in the room. He gave a small wave to John before concentrating fully on the security feeds. Adrienne spoke into the radio. “This is Alpha team one requesting confirmation from Bravo and Delta security dispatch. Come in Bravo and Delta.” 

The radio crackled before two different people checked in, apparently the heads of two different security teams. They explained to Adrienne that “Lima”, the codename for the head of security, had called an emergency on the far side of the estate and that it had warranted both of the current security teams. They were still trying to find it, having traced tracks for hours and still seen nothing solid. Adrienne groaned, recognizing the ploy as a trick immediately. She ordered the teams to split up and work their way back to the security hutch checking the grounds thoroughly for any sign of foul play. 

Herc finally spoke up from the monitor. “Well I have okay news, bad news, and worse news. Which do y’all want first?” 

John spoke up, feeling kind of helpless and needing to contribute to the cause, “That order would be ideal. What did you find?” 

Herc sighed, and in the background of the monitor you could see Peggy rubbing his shoulders from behind. They were both in full pajamas in what looked like Peggy’s old room in the Schuyler household. In that moment, John almost wished he had taken Alex’s invitation for the three of them to come to the Schuyler’s for Thanksgiving, but he shook that from his head in favor of thinking about all of the positive things that had come from the trip thus far. Herc spoke quietly, “The okay news is that we have video footage of what happened. The bad news is that someone tried to delete the footage so we only have the backup copy which means we can’t get a good facial match to do a trace. The worst news is that whoever took Laf has managed to destroy the tracker in his phone and disable the tracker in his subdermal implant. Which means that all we can see is that someone took him; we don’t know where or who.” 


	44. Chapter 44

John could see the wheels turning in Adrienne’s head. She looked as if she was simultaneously worried, nervous, angry, and calm, and it was only serving to unnerve John more. Herc could apparently feel the tension through the screen. “What’s up, Adri? I’ve seen that look before. Don’t try and solve this all on your own without giving us the details.” 

She sighed, resignation obvious on her face. John had never seen her so out of control of her outward presence, although given the situation it was expected. “I think I know who would have wanted to take him. But I don’t _know_ who it is.” 

“You’re going to have to be a little clearer than that, love. You just contradicted yourself,” Herc said, voice sounding warm and comforting even through the crackling internet connection. John moved over to crouch beside Adrienne, not knowing whether he took her hand to comfort her or himself more. 

She patted him on the face, her features looking sad. “ _God_ , this is so not my story to tell, and I _tried_ to get him to tell you sooner, but we all know how stubborn he can be when it comes to personal matters. This is going to be terrible and potentially not helpful at all. John, before you came on the scene, Gil didn’t date. I mean, he said he did. And there were a few times that he took flings to hotels, but in the years after our divorce, I never saw him seriously try with anyone. It was like he was running from commitment. He said that ‘all relationships did was trap you’ and ‘never again’. And at first I didn’t understand why. For a small amount of time, I thought I had broken him. But he told me one day when he was drunk that he couldn’t find love because his father had sold his heart to another man, and that man had turned out to be the devil. Now we all know Gil’s affinity for exaggeration, but I thought back to right after he and I broke up and I vaguely remember him saying that his father set him up with an older man. He had been so excited until one day he wasn’t, and he wouldn’t talk about why. Then there was the whirlwind marriage, the divorce, and the move, and in that time I had mainly forgotten about it. But on that drunken night, I asked Gil about this ex-boyfriend and he had scoffed and said, ‘ex-master, you mean?’ At the time I assumed that he was being dramatic, but then there’s been these phone calls and the break-in and the drugging and now this? I just feel like they have to be connected and even with as expansive as Gil’s company is, I can’t think of one person who would want to take him with no ransom and no word to us more than this mysterious guy I don’t even have a name for.” 

The room was flooded with an uncomfortable silence. For full minutes, they sat all seemingly lost in their own thoughts about the situation. Finally John cleared his throat. “He didn’t tell me the actual story, but he told me a simplified one as a bedtime story once.” John recounted the story as best he could. Then he continued, “The first time I met Peggy, Gil mentioned that the security measures were because ‘he’ had called and Gil was worried about my safety. I’ve never heard him sound so afraid. So if this ‘he’ really has taken him, we need to find him and we need to find him fast. What else do we know about the kidnapping?” 

Peggy spoke up next. “The head of security has to have been involved. He would have access to cameras that show every house and safe-house in the network as well as phone numbers for all of us. Why else would he be missing now too?” 

Adrienne pulled up his personnel file. “El Kingston. 48 years old. Background check and psych check both passed with flying colors. Has worked for the company for a little over 14 years. Herc and I both interviewed with him. Herc did anything set you off about him then?” 

John interrupted apologetically, “Not to be rude, but in the interest of saving time we need to focus on people as they are now. If this guy was as wealthy and unscrupulous as we think, you can’t tell me that he couldn’t have started new with perfect paper forgeries. Do we have a picture of him?” 

Adrienne checked the digital file and after a moment, a picture flashed up on the screen. 

John’s eyes got wide as saucers. “That’s him! That’s the guy who drugged me!” 

John admitted that in that picture he was younger and with short hair, but he was sure it was the same man. Adrienne fumed as she put pieces together in her mind. “He wasn’t _sick_ , he was in America drugging John, and it took him longer to get back here than us. And he wasn’t taking personal leave because something was wrong, it was because he was planning on kidnapping Gil right under my nose,” she snarled. 

“Facial recognition scans say that his name was originally Louis Kingsly, and he died around the same time Gil came to America. Convenient. Left his estate to a small organization that turned it into a park. No next of kin. No other addresses. El Kingston only had his estate listed as the guest house here. So we’ve hit another dead end. We know pretty much everything except for how to find him,” Herc’s voice was tinged with frustration and exhaustion. 

John looked down at the floor. He refused to admit defeat, and he refused to give up on Gil. He was going to find his boyfriend, and then he was going to personally sue the pants off of Louis or El or Lou or all three personas. As he was looking at the floor, his eyes drifted to his ring and bracelet. Then the obvious answer hit him like an avalanche. Grinning like a mad man, he looked up to Herc and Adri. “I know how to find him.” 


	45. Chapter 45

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warning: Implied abuse, implied slight noncon, graphic description of violence, and a crazy asshole. If you are uncomfortable with any of that, message me and I can give you a rundown of what you missed outside of whatever makes you uncomfortable. Tumblr: smilingsarah10 
> 
> Otherwise, I hope you enjoy.

“Can I just say how much I hate this plan?” Adrienne said for at least the third time since John had proposed the plan. “You have no training. Gil would literally kill us if he knew we were letting you do this. He might still kill us after the fact.” 

Herc’s voice came across the hidden earpieces they were both wearing, “I have a feeling he’s just going to be excited to not be alone with a mad man. Y’all are about to turn down the right block now. John, how’s our boy doing?” 

John sat back and felt the familiar pulse coming through his bracelet as it lit up discreetly to confirm that they were going the right way to get to Gil. “His heartrate is elevated. It occasionally spikes but had stayed in a healthy range.” John was just relieved that he could feel the heartbeat and that the signal was working. Herc and Adrienne both didn’t seem surprised that Gil had created the bands and technology without telling them. They had just accepted it and tried to come up with any way they could send _anyone_ but John in on the extraction mission. 

John had insisted that he was going. It was his bracelet. It was his boyfriend. Louis had made it John’s fight, and John wasn’t backing down. When Adrienne had seen the determination set into his features, she had only groaned and snapped, “You’re just like him. Fine, if you have a death wish, I’m not letting you go in there unarmed.” 

She had given him another bracelet which in the case of emergency contained a piece of flexible sharp wire that could be used defensively as a small whip or to cut through things. She also gave him a small ring that could serve as a stun gun if necessary. “I’m not giving you more than what could be considered self-defense that way when this goes public, we don’t have people claiming that Gil’s future husband is just as crazy as his ex,” she grabbed him on both sides of his face and pulled him down to her level so that they were making eye contact, “and John Laurens, I _swear to God_ that if you come out of there harmed in the slightest, I’m putting both you and Gil in a bubble and never letting you out of my sight again. Do you understand me?” 

John had only smirked at her, that tiny, gorgeous, threatening angel, and drawled, “Yes, ma’am.” As soon as he was geared up, they had gotten in the car. Herc had run the coordinates off of John’s phone app onto his computer so that he could route the driver to where they hoped Gil was. They were all just praying that Louis hadn’t noticed the ring and bracelet and ditched them along the way. 

“Alright, you’re there,” Herc’s voice cracked through the earpiece. John looked out the window of the car. They were in an unassuming neighborhood out front of a normal looking one story house. “Remember we can hear you, and you can hear us, but you don’t let him know that. We will give you feedback; you just find our boy.” 

John exited the car about a block away from his destination, doing his best to look unassuming and not out of place. Quickly and quietly, he approached the house, walking around to the side of the house instead of the front at the bracelet’s instruction. There was a small window on the side near the base of the house that let light into probably the basement. He approached the window cautiously, making sure it wasn’t a trap. All he saw in the basement was Gil sitting in the corner of the room head on his knees in his boxers. John tried to see if there was anything else in the room, but from what he could tell, it was empty. He tested the give on the window expecting it to be locked, but it gave easily. 

John slipped in, making sure the window was propped. Gil looked up in shock. “John? You came!” 

John ran over to him after making sure they were alone. “Of course I came. Of course. You know I will always come for you.” Gil snorted and wiggled his eyebrows. John swatted at his arm, honestly just glad to see that he was in good enough condition to make jokes. “Come on, we have to get you out!” 

John pulled on Gil’s hands to pull him to his feet. He was surprised when Gil went limp and sat back down on the ground. John, concerned crouched down beside him, “What’s wrong? The windows open! We can get out!” 

Gil shook his head and pointed to a metal band around his neck that had two points pressing against Gil’s neck and a lock on the front. “If I step out of the boundaries of the house, I will get hurt. It’s like a stun gun but on steroids.” 

John was so horrified that he failed to notice someone entering the room until he spoke, “Ah a guest. Wonderful. Don’t let him have his pity party.” 

John spun on heel and faced the voice. There stood Lou, or Louis. John’s eyes hardened. “What did you do to him?” 

Louis laughed an angry laugh. “I haven’t _done_ anything to him. I just had to reclaim what was mine before you soiled him with emotions. Isn’t that right Marie?” 

John looked between Louis and Gil, confused still about everything he was saying. “Ah, I see he hasn’t been completely honest with you. Let me fill you in. When Marie-Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette was 16, his father contacted me, desperate to save his wealth. The one thing I wanted that he could provide was the metaphorical heart of his first-born son. So we came up with a contract. I put funds into his pocket, and he placed his son in mine. You see, I own him. It was all fine until the first time the poor lamb tried to tell me no about making an appearance with me. I made him do it anyway. He didn’t like that. And I told him that I didn’t care. He over reacted to finding out that he was mine forever and ran away. I’ve obviously been watching from afar the whole time. He was never really out of my pocket. But then _you_ came into the picture. And unfortunately I could see the connection you two were forming. So I had to take drastic measures. You understand.” 

Herc spoke up for the first time since John had walked in. “What the actual fuck…” 

John had to hold himself back from flying off the handle. He needed to keep it cool to be able to find the key that would release Gil from his bonds. He gritted out, “No, I don’t understand. You are a _pervert_ who fell in love with a minor, supported a sick form of human trafficking, and then decided that you could just kidnap someone and hold them against their will in your house. And you think that you can distract me by throwing out his full name and telling me your side of this sick story? You’re _insane_.” 

Louis laughed, “Oh, he’s a spitfire. No wonder you like him so much, Marie. But, John, you are a little bit wrong. Marie knows where the key is. He is just refusing to get it. You must not mean that much to him if he won’t do one little thing for freedom.” 

Gil’s head shot up from where his eyes had been trained to the floor, steel in his vision. “I will not defile myself for your sick pleasure.” 

John looked back towards Louis, smile somehow looking less friendly than before. “Maybe the pool boy will do it for you then, oui? Come on, John. Wouldn’t you do anything for him?” 

John gave him a skeptical look. “Where did you put the key?” 

Louis looked at him predatorily. “Now that’s the spirit. You see, I wanted to see how far I could push _my_ Marie. So I tied the key to an area that he’s never even seen, much less touched. And now it’s… engorged if you will. So unless you find a way to fix the problem, the key is stuck up against the family jewels.” 

Adri came across the line this time. “Please tell me he doesn’t mean he tied the key to his penis. Please tell me that’s not what I just heard.” 

John cleared his throat and put on his best clinical voice, “So basically what you’re saying is that you tied the key to your erection. You get aroused from attempting to psychologically torture Gil, and you want him to deflate your erection to win his freedom. Did I miss anything?” 

Louis laughed sounding like broken bells, “Marie, I’m impressed. He’s not just a pretty face _he’s got a little brain too._ ” The last part was said in baby talk and something in John snapped. Gil looked up at him, feeling his heart beat elevate. 

“John, don’t do whatever it is you are thinking about doing,” Gil said cautiously standing up from the floor. 

John locked eyes with Louis. “So if I can _retrieve_ the key, I can leave with Gil?” 

He smiled creepily, “You’d be willing to do that? For him? _He_ wasn’t even willing to do that.” 

“That’s because people aren’t possessions, and you can’t just command someone to fellate your dick and expect them to do it. As a matter of fact, you can’t buy peoples affection. I know that’s a new concept for you. But because I actually care about him and am willing to do things for his health and well being, yes, I am totally willing to retrieve the key.” John could hear Herc and Adri telling him not to be an idiot through the receiver. While he could ignore them, he couldn’t ignore Gil’s hands on him, turning him around. 

He looked into John’s eyes, obviously concerned. “Mon amour, you do not have to do this.” 

John tried to convey all the love and mischief he was up to in a single moment of eye contact. “Gil, do you trust me?” 

“Always, John.” 

“And you’ll be there for support afterwards?” 

“Of course, Querido.” 

Louis cleared his throat, obviously feeling impatient. John turned towards him. “Louis, did you do any research about me when I started dating Gilbert?” He stalked towards him coming off as a mixture of intimidating and sexy. “No? Well that’s a shame really. You see, I’m a premed major. The best in my class, actually. Not to brag or anything.” 

John pushed him from his feet to the floor, straddling his waist while Gil watched and cringed. John wished that there was a way to tell anyone his plan, but for now, it was up to him to just do it and explain after. “As someone who is training to be a doctor, I have to warn you,” he caressed Louis face, letting his touch fall gentle until he got to his throat, “This might hurt a little.” 

John activated the stun gun in the ring, just as he pressed against Louis pulse point in his neck. He held for three seconds. “A stun gun confuses the chemical pathways in your brain. That’s one of the many things I learned on my way to getting my degree. No that you are really processing what I’m saying right now. That’s ok. Now, about that problematic erection. My lab practicals over the years have taught me,” John undid Louis’ pants and underwear with precision and undid the ribbon steel in his bracelet, “there’s more than one way to skin a cat.” 

With all the surgical precision he could manage, John used the ribbon to slice off Louis erection at the base. John looked up to Gil who was looking at the scene with a mixture of horror and admiration. “You just… cut… Merde. Will he die from that?” 

“No the body is really resilient. He could actually reattach it and get full functionality. Unfortunately, I’m throwing it away and I doubt the police or hospital will be very interested in reattaching it. The fun part, the silver lining really, is that I left him his balls so he will get extremely sexually frustrated but will have no way to relieve himself,” John extracted the key and wiped down it and his hands on Louis’ shirt, “Now come here, he will get muscle functionality back soon and I would like to be gone.” 

As John unlocked and removed the stun necklace, Gil leaned forward and kissed his nose. “That was both terrifying and arousing. Remind me to never piss you off.” 

John shook his head, “Let’s just never get in a situation like that again, and I promise that I will never do any more impromptu surgeries.” 

They walked out of the house hand in hand. Adri pulled out a go bag, and Gil put on some clothes, making him look much more dignified. In total, the ordeal took less than 12 hours. The rest of their day was spent explaining themselves to the French police, multiple times as the story spread that a young American saved the Marquis from a mad man by cutting off the man’s penis. Gil insisted on not being separated from John, even the brief period apart being enough to rattle his senses, and John couldn’t help but wonder that Louis had said to him in private. Gil was assured that Louis would be put away for good, and he assured John that was good enough for him, and that it was a weight off his shoulders. 

Adri had the driver take them home, taking on the lawyers and police herself. Herc had gotten off the line apparently just in time to go golfing with the Schuylers on no sleep. They got in the door, and John pulled Gil up the stairs and into the master suite. “Come on, Papi. You need to rest.” 

John stripped off their clothes, starting with his own and then slowly undressing Gil. “John, you don’t feel like you’re trapped with me, do you?” The question had been asked quietly, as if he was afraid of the answer John might give. John, recognizing the parallels Gil was trying to draw cut it off at the source. 

“Marie-Joeseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette,” John said, letting the name roll off his tongue in his best interpretation of the French pronunciation, “Don’t you dare start comparing yourself to that asshat. He messed with your life for years, and I know that couldn’t have done pleasant things to your brain. But you are _nothing_ like him. When I say I am yours, it’s not out of some sense of repayment. I don’t care about the money or the things. I care about the way you treat me. I care about the way I treat you. The only people we _belong to_ are each other. And I’m not getting out of this bed again until you remember that.” 

Gil looked at him, awe in his eyes rimmed with tears and the ghost of a smile on his lips. John pulled him into the bed, shifting him around until Gil’s head was on his chest. He leaned down and caressed his boyfriend’s face and ran his fingers through his hair until he thought he was asleep. Suddenly, he heard a small voice from up against his chest. “I love you, John.” 

“I love you, too, Gil.” 

John knew then that they were going to be just fine. 


	46. Chapter 46

As tired as he was, Laf only slept a few hours once they got home. When he woke up, he felt a hazy arousal that he knew was probably caused from such a high tension day and then a drop in activity before the hormones had worn off. It was a different type of arousal, both clouded and fueled by emotions. It took him longer than he would care to admit to figure out exactly what he wanted, so he waited to wake John up until he was sure. When he finally put his finger on how he wanted things to go, he shivered and hoped that John would be up for it. He briefly considered that John wouldn’t be interested in sex at all, but figured it didn’t hurt to try. 

Laf let his finger trace the white ink tattoo of the oceans waves across John’s spine between his shoulder blades. John rolled his shoulders into the light touches, reacting to Laf’s fingers even when asleep. Laf slowly let his touches brush lower down John’s spine before using his tongue to trace the same light touches back up. He could feel John’s breath hitch as he slowly started to wake up. By the time Laf switched to using his teeth to bite his way back down, John was fully awake and moaning. When Laf pulled away, John rolled over to look him in the eyes. “Papi, what are you doing awake? You need your rest. It’s been a long day for you.” The concern in his voice was heartwarming, but Laf wasn’t interested in sleeping. 

“Don’t need sleep,” Laf mumbled as he nosed his way into the crook of John’s neck. He bit down on the juncture gently, a ghost of teeth before he licked his way up to his ear, “Need you.” 

John tipped his head away to expose his neck to Laf again, letting him suck little marks into the skin there while John stroked softly across his body. “You sure, Gil? I don’t want to press you into doing anything right now.” 

“I feel like I need this, Querido. Can you help give me what I need?” Laf breathed the question against the skin of John’s collarbones. John was already panting, and Laf couldn’t wait to ask him if he’d be interested in what he wanted. 

“Of course, Papi. What do you _need_?” he asked, teasing tone to his voice even as Laf tried to take him apart with just his lips. 

Laf relished in the gasp that fell from John’s lips when he flicked his tongue across his nipples. “I need to be fucked, Querido. Want you to claim me. Want to feel you inside me like no one else has been. You up for that?” 

John pulled him up by the hair from where he was at his chest into a sloppy kiss with way too much tongue and teeth, but perfect in that moment. When they pulled apart, John breathed out his next question against his lips, “You know I always want to give you what you want, and I won’t lie, I love the idea of fucking you: being buried deep inside you and making you feel as good as you make me feel, but I have to know you’re sure.” 

“I’m more than sure. Do you trust me?” Laf leaned away but didn’t move until he heard John’s soft response of, “Always, Papi.” 

Laf rolled away until he could reach the nightstand, fishing around until he found the lube and a cock ring. When he rolled back over, John groaned knowing that the cock ring was for him. “I want to ride you to completion, love. I want it rough and fast and dirty, and I know how over excited you can get. This is just to make the fun last a little longer.” 

John took the lube from Laf’s hand, pulling him into a kiss by the neck. “C’mere you,” he pushed Laf onto his knees on the bed, “At least let me prep you.” 

Laf relaxed on his elbows as John settled in behind him, only teasing a little before pressing a slicked finger in. He rubbed soothing patterns into Laf’s hipbone until he relaxed enough for him to start moving. It was a strange feeling, but not unwanted or unwelcome by any means. The slight burn and stretch as John carefully worked him open was grounding and Laf felt himself pushing back into the touch as if asking for more. John gently nipped as his asscheek shifting the angle of his fingers to search for something. Laf cursed and jerked forward when John’s fingers found their target. “You like that, Papi? Don’t worry, I won’t stop.” 

John, true to his word, kept his fingers brushed up against his prostate until Laf was mewling into the pillow and reaching back to push John’s hand away. John pulled out, slicking himself up even as Laf arranged him against the headboard. When Laf got him where he wanted, he slid the cock ring in place. Laf then climbed onto John’s lap and let him line them up. He slowly sunk down onto John’s dick, reveling in how full he felt the further down he slid and the whimper the motion brought out of John. John caught his hips before he pulled back up, holding him fully on his cock. “Give me a second, Papi, _Jesus_ you’re so tight and hot wrapped around me.” 

Laf let him adjust for only a moment before he slid himself up and back down roughly, enjoying the way John’s hands gripped his hips and the sounds that he let escape his control. He leaned forward, kissing John breathless before rolling his hips back down to make John moan and throw his head back. “If you get close, you can beg and I might let you fill me up, Querido. You always beg _so sweetly_ when you’re desperate.” 

It only took a few more rolls of Laf’s hips to kick John’s mouth into gear. “Please, Papi, let me take the ring off. I need to cum so bad; you feel so good wrapped around me like that. Your hips are sinful, Lord, I could watch you do this all day if I thought I could last that long. You’re so beautiful riding me like that, you feel so good; please Papi, please let me out. I promise I will make it good for you first! Please, let me prove it to you!” 

Laf groaned and lifted off of John, letting his dick fall wetly against his stomach. He whimpered, not expecting how empty he felt. John, reading his mind, shushed him with a finger to his lips which he proceeded to playfully nip at. John pulled off the ring, sighing when it was off and he pumped himself a few times. Laf went to lower himself back down onto John, but John pushed him off to the side. “How about you let me do the work, Papi? I can make this so good for you if you’ll let me.” 

John looked so hot, doing his best to lean over Laf like he usually liked Laf to do to him. Laf settled back onto his elbows and nodded to let John know it was ok for him to take the lead. John kissed and licked back down his body, pulling a pillow down with him. He lifted Laf’s hips up to rest elevated on the pillow. Before Laf could ask why, John was lining back up, lifting one of Laf’s knees up to adjust the angle, and Laf’s question was answered. Having found the perfect spot to drag over Laf’s prostate with every thrust, John set a moderate tempo: not to fast but not torturously slow. As Laf saw stars, he listened to John’s litany of praises, “Shit, Papi, you look so beautiful spread out on the bed just for me. _My_ Papi, rolling your hips and moaning because of my thrusts. Wanna make you feel this good forever. God you’re so good.” 

Laf realized he was moaning and rolling his hips in time with John’s thrusts. He thought he was at peak pleasure until John’s hands moved from his thighs to one lightly circling the head of his dick and the other cupping his balls. Laf was trying to dig through the fog of his approaching orgasm to ask what he was doing, then John gently pressed gently right below his balls on another bundle of nerves and Laf was overcome with pleasure, shooting of in John’s hand and screaming his name. John thrust through Laf’s orgasm, keeping the same tempo even as he fell apart in his own bliss. 

John slowly pulled out when Laf relaxed enough for him to. Laf opened his arms up to pull John to the bed, but John sat back on his knees, locking eyes with Laf and licking his cum from his hand. Laf’s head rolled back on the bed, his spent dick twitching in interest. “Merde, John, you’re such a dirty boy. _My_ dirty boy. Now come cuddle me.” 

John waited until he was looking again before lowering himself down on his elbows. “Let me get you clean first, then I promise we can cuddle.” 

Laf looked at him curiously, watching as he lowered his head and licked from his abdomen down his cock and around his balls. Realizing what was coming next, Laf let John shift his knees back so that he could lick across his perineum and down to where Laf was dripping. He let John lap there until he was too oversensitive to stand it, then pulled him up by the hair and into a rough kiss. It was interesting to taste them on John’s lips, but not bad. The whole experience had left Laf feeling satisfied and solidly there in the moment. John pulled away to look him over. After a moment of letting his eyes wander, he asked, “Was that good enough, Papi?” His voice sounded small and unsure even though he had just blown Laf’s mind really. 

“That was amazing, Querido. Everything I needed. Thank you,” Laf kissed his temple, shifting a little so that they were laying more fully on a dry spot on the bed. 

John nuzzled into his chest, breathing evenly with Laf until some of the post orgasm glow had faded. Laf’s stomach chose then to rumble. John shot up with a start. “Oh my God, Papi, when’s the last time you ate?” 

Knowing that John wasn’t going to be satisfied with the true answer(dinner yesterday before the opera) Laf tried to divert his attention. “I’m fine, sweetie. Let’s just lay back down!” 

Even as he was protesting, John was pulling him out of bed and wrapping him in a robe. “You have to eat, silly. Don’t pout at me!” John was rifling through his pants that he discarded from earlier to find his phone. When he finally got it turned on, he cringed but pulled Laf out of the suite without explaining the look. 

As they we descending the stairs, John asked quietly but with a smirk, mischief like a flame hiding in his gaze. “How much do you love me?” 

“With my whole being and more,” Laf answered immediately, then seeing John’s smirk added on, “Why?” 

“Well, I have 32 missed calls from Alex and George asking if we are ok and what happened. I was going to bargain and say that I would make you dinner because I love you with my whole being, if you’d call one of them back while I’m cooking,” John fluttered his eyelashes ridiculously even as he made his request. 

Laf chuckled. “Sure thing, mon chou. But no complaining when I blame you for not picking up your phone and then blow your heroic deeds out of proportion.” 

John rolled his eyes, kissing him even as Laf hit the speed dial to call George back, only pulling away when George answered his phone and immediately started laying into him for not responding sooner. 


	47. Chapter 47

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO I'm back after awhile where I felt like I was a shit writer and had no motivation and a serious lack of time. I'm so sorry about that. I think I'm over it/ have figured out my new schedule.
> 
> And this chapter is sad! Sorry! I promise things are on an upward turn, just bear with me. 
> 
> Thanks for reading along!

Thanksgiving morning in France was a quiet affair. Laf slipped out of John’s arms, being sure to leave him a note explaining that he was just downstairs and not to panic, then heading down to the kitchen to make a pot of coffee and enjoy the morning quiet. The sun wasn’t up yet; the darkness and stillness of the morning working to calm Laf’s still firing nerves. He was sure that he would eventually calm down. Being taken and held hostage was a big deal, he knew, but it was almost as if his body was refusing to process that the event had even happened. He could still feel the band pressed against his neck and the voice of the asshole in his ear when it latched whispering, “forever mine.” 

He shivered and shook the thought from his brain. He knew it wasn’t healthy to deflect, but he was not about to have those thoughts before the sun was even up. The coffee pot finished percolating with a ding, drawing Laf’s thoughts out of that house’s basement and into the warmth that the beverage offered. Being so lost in his coffee and the moment at that time of night, he startled at a knock on the kitchen’s sliding glass door. Before the panic could rise, he realized it was Adrienne, in her own robe and slippers having walked over from her residence. He let her in through the back, accepting the kisses on each of his cheeks and returning the gesture. 

“I saw the lights on and figured that I would make my way over. Cur non, oui?” She moved around the kitchen until she found her favorite mug and poured herself a cup of coffee. Laf loved watching her move about and ‘fix’ her cup, as she liked far too much cream and sugar for his taste, but he loved the way the cream left streaks in the dark liquid until the colors merged into the right shade of cream. When she was done, she leaned against the counter opposite him, letting the silence fill the space. 

Laf looked at the way her hair spilled over her shoulders. The early morning light gave her features the glow of a goddess. It was easy to see where highly intoxicated John could mistake her for an angel. She caught him staring and smiled playfully. “Careful, tiger, you’re a well taken care of man. Don’t get greedy.” 

He playfully nudged her arm. “I’m well aware. John and I said ‘I love you’ for the first time last night.” 

Adrienne smiled, but it seemed bittersweet. “What’s wrong?” he asked cautiously. 

“Nothing, sweetie. I think that it’s beautiful that you all had a shining moment in the hell that was yesterday; I could tell that John had been thinking about saying it for a while. And hopefully you got some rest afterwards. How are you feeling this morning?” she deflected the questions back to him. 

He thought hard for a second, taking a drink to stall. “Honestly, I feel numb to the entire situation. In theory, I should be feeling _something_ , but… I just… don’t feel anything. And I know it’s not healthy. I can’t make myself feel though right?” 

She nodded along, placing a comforting hand on his bicep when he seemed to falter. “Sometimes it takes time for our mind to process things that happen to our bodies. And when those emotions do hit, don’t be afraid to come to me or John or Herc for support. Even if we can’t do anything more than listen and recommend some awesome trauma counselors, we are always here for you.” 

He caught her hand and kissed it. “My dear Adrienne, you are much too good for me.” 

She laughed softly, before pulling her hand away and pulling something out of the inner pocket of her robe. She hesitated before unrolling it to hand it to Laf. “When I was cataloguing everything in Louis’ house, I found this in a desk in an office upstairs. I felt like it belonged to you so I managed to hang onto it even after the police needed it.” 

The document that she unrolled was almost 20 years old, printed and signed on fine parchment. In the family’s traditional red ink, his father’s signature stood out on the page like blood on snow. Laf froze, not able to look at Louis’ signature on the opposite side of the page or the text above outlining the agreement between the two about the fate of the then very young future Marquis. 

Laf didn’t realize he had been holding his breath until Adrienne pulled him into her for support as he fell apart in the kitchen. “I was only sixteen, Adrienne. How could he? What business is worth that? What house is worth that? Why were those things worth more than me?” 

Adrienne made calming noises and let Laf lament to her until he had exhausted his words, never once refuting his opinions or stopping him from speaking. When his vision finally cleared of tears, he realized they were curled up together on the floor of the kitchen. She finally spoke, “I can’t answer your questions, mon chou. But I will get you the best help I can find until you are feeling yourself again. In the meantime, I know that you mean so much more than those things to so many people. You are worth more than anything to myself and to John. And we will be here until you remember your worth. Do you want me to take the deed back?” 

Laf thought about literally anyone but him holding a deed that said he ‘was the property of’ another person and felt like he was going to throw up his coffee and the dinner that John had made him. He shook his head violently. “ _NON_ , no, I think I want to hold onto it. Maybe burn it or otherwise destroy it.” 

Adrienne stood up and hauled him to his feet. “I understand. It’s yours for the taking. Do you want to talk about it anymore?” 

He could tell her offer was genuine, but after crying so hard, all he wanted was to go curl up beside his boyfriend. “I think I’m going to go back to bed for a bit,” he pocketed the deed, trying not to make it obvious that having it close to him made his skin crawl, “You will be at Thanksgiving lunch yes?” 

She could obviously see right through him, but she didn’t press the issue. She affirmed that she wouldn’t miss it, and headed out into the emerging morning light. Laf made his way back up to his bedroom, shedding his robe and his problems and worries at the door. When he got in the bed, John curled in close to him and sleepily ran his hands up and down his body. Laf stilled his motions with a crushing hug and a kiss to the forehead. John didn’t complain or comment on the force; he just wiggled until he was comfortable and then willed them both to go back to sleep. Laf easily complied. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Questions? A couple of suggestions? I love feedback and talking to readers! You can post here or find me on tumblr @smilingsarah10
> 
> Thanks again for reading!


	48. Chapter 48

John, Adrienne, and Gil settled into their private living room after their ‘traditional’ Thanksgiving meal to wait for the food to pass through their systems so that they could at least comfortably move again. The feast had been a relatively joyous ordeal: all of the house staff had shown up at some point for a plate of food and good conversation around the big dining room table. Gil was a little reserved, but John chalked it up to the weariness that had settled over them all as Louis’ house was cleaned out. 

Adrienne had pulled him aside earlier to tell him that the house they found Laf in was covered in hidden cameras, but there was no trace of the system that they sent video to and no laptop or computer on the property itself. More than likely, Louis had other houses with things hidden in them. So far he was refusing to talk to the police, only opening his mouth to eat and say that he would be suing for assault of some fashion. She reminded John not to worry; Gil’s company had the best personal lawyers. John couldn’t help but still be a little nervous. 

John rolled out of the sitting position and laid his head on Gil’s lap, stretching out on the couch with a groan. “I’m never eating again! That was way too much!” he jokingly complained. Gil shifted his lap so that one of his hands was resting protectively over John’s chest and the other was playing with his hair. “You okay, Papi?” John’s concern echoed through the room. 

Gil looked at John and then Adrienne as the silence stretched through the room. Finally, he cleared his throat and spoke softly, “I think I want to go home.” 

Adrienne nodded as if she understood completely. John blinked trying to gather his thoughts then asked for clarification. “What do you mean?” 

Gil looked at John with love and explained, “I love this house. It’s extravagant and has everything you could possibly need AND a million things that you might want. But it is tarnished with bad memories and the start of horrid events. And I am _so tired_ , love. I want to go home. To our home. And I think I want to leave now.” 

Adrienne stood abruptly. “I will go tell Jacques to prepare the plane, and I will call the airport and make sure you have a spot to depart. Can you be ready in less than two hours?” 

Gil shifted John up onto his feet and started ushering him towards the stairs while talking to Adrienne. “Oui! Pack your bag and his bag, too. We are all spending a week stateside. No buts about it!” 

Adrienne’s complaints could be heard even after the door to their suite closed. Gil practically dragged John back into the bed with him, but John didn’t protest. He could recognize when someone needed silence. 

After around thirty minutes had passed with just their silent breaths and the creak of the bed as they shifted to get comfortable, Gil whispered. “Herc said he could find us a therapist. For both one on one and couple meetings. Just until I can figure out what’s going on in my head. Would you be ok with that?” 

“I’m willing to try anything to help, Papi. You know that,” John punctuated his sentence with a kiss on Gil’s nose, causing him to snort with laughter. 

They laid in bed for a while longer, the silence comfortable. John’s thoughts went to everything that had happened: both the good and the bad. He wasn’t sure why, but he felt unusually comfortable with their personal relationship. They were strong. They were in love and had _actually said it_ , and wasn’t that just an awesome thought. But that moment felt like a light in the middle of an oppressive darkness. Getting away from Louis had felt almost too easy. John could feel trouble on the horizon, but couldn’t identify what it was or when it would be there. 

Before he could linger on the thought anymore, Gil was shifting out of bed and away from him. “ _No_ , come back! You were warm!” He complained jokingly. Gil just scooped him up and carried him with him towards the bathroom. 

“Yes, but the shower will be warmer! And we can get nice and clean so that we can sleep on the plane. Would you wash my hair if I wash yours?” He asked, innocently. John was not used to this less sexual, more naïve front of his boyfriend, but after all they’d been through, it was endearing. 

“Of course! But no funny business. You remember the last time Adri had to drag us out of the shower?” John wiggled his eyebrows, mimicking the disapproving face that Adrienne had made. With that, they both laughed and relaxed against the hot water. 

The touches remained innocent as the water washed away their worries and frustrations. As they toweled off, Adrienne called through the bathroom door that they would be leaving in half an hour. “They can’t get the wifi to work on the plane, so you’ll be cut off for the duration of the flight. Make sure that you’ve finished all your business before we leave Gilbert.” 

With that their little bubble of security was temporarily dropped. John worked product into Gil’s hair as he called to make sure that everything was business as usual stateside. Herc said that he would do his best to work from the Schuyler’s house because there was “no chance in hell of Phillip conceding on his Saturday rule.” Gil laughed, one of the rare genuine laughs of the day, and got off the phone. Herc signed off, saying that everything would be taken care of by the time they landed. 

Even with Herc and Adrienne assuring them that everything would settle back to normal, in the back of John’s mind, the feeling that this was not over yet lingered. Gil kept him close all the way to the airport and onto the plane. In that half hour of small reassurance, John steeled himself for whatever it was that was making him feel the way he did. No matter what it was, they would get through it. And with that, they disconnected from the world and took off. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! If you're still here reading, I sincerely apologize for my absence (again). I'm not going to say why I've been gone. A lot of shit has happened and will probably continue to happen, but I have finally got this universe outlined to completion. 
> 
> With that being said, I appreciate any comments, questions, or suggestions you might have. Your comments are what keep me coming back to writing. Thank you for your continued support. 
> 
> My personal tumblr is smilingsarah10 and my writing tumblr is thenbreakme and I would love to hear from you on either of those. See you again soon!


	49. Chapter 49

The flight itself was nice. They slept for a while, and Laf thought about just how right it felt to share a bed with John and how weird and wrong it felt when he was not there. He knew in his heart that it was way too soon to propose, but he entertained the thought anyways to lift his mood. When they couldn’t possibly sleep anymore, they played cards and board games, making idle bets and planning what they’d do with their weekend home before John went back to class. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a break from classes? I know you don’t like to miss, but I could email your professors about the situation, and I am sure that they’d agree you need a break.” 

Laf had known the answer before he asked the question, but John’s eyeroll was not surprising in the least. “Ew, don’t you dare. That’d be worse than a parent emailing a professor for me. I’ll be fine. This will be nothing compared to the rigors of med school. Besides, I’m supposed to finish my research for my senior project this week. Don’t worry about me. You just enjoy your executive retreat.” 

Laf reached across the table to ruffle John’s hair. “Fine, but if you need anything, I am more than okay with taking some time off and recommending you do the same.” 

Jacques made the announcement that they were about to descend, so Laf pulled John towards the front of the plane. Both of them turned their airplane mode off as they taxied on the runway and were surprised to find messages and texts and social media notifications so heavy that they almost couldn’t dig through them. “What the…” John said under his breath as he scrolled down trying to see who left him a voicemail. 

Laf watched as John listened to whatever was on his phone, color draining from his face. He took a deep breath, laying the phone on the armrest and putting the message on speaker. _‘Hey John,’_ came Alex’s voice tinged with what sounded like hysteria, _‘So I don’t want you to panic, although I would imagine that is what you’re going to do anyways so I don’t know why I’m even saying this, but I was masturbating and… sorry that was weird… I was online and you know how you used to joke about being a pornstar? Well your dream came true? Kind of? Someone posted a video of you and Laf online. And by a video I mean 35 of them. And they all have about 6 million hits and growing… Herc says he’s trying to take care of it before you get off the plane but you know I’m worried anyway. Call me back. Love you.’_

Laf’s brain was absolutely refusing to process Alex’s words. So instead of asking anything relevant, he asked, “You and Alex say I love you?” 

John looked at him, also in shock. Laf thought for a second that he was going to have an outburst but was surprised when he only responded softly. “We do.” 

Laf took John’s hand, “You know, if you had told me you wanted to be a porn star, I would have been more than willing to help with that.” 

Maybe it was the shock they were both going through, or maybe it was how ridiculous the whole situation seemed, but John laughed and it was the purest sound Laf had heard, he thought. “Seems someone he beat us to the punch. What do we do?” John asked, looking to Laf for answers. 

Normally, Laf would have the answers. He would say something witty, take control, and save the day. But he wasn’t feeling witty. He wasn’t close to being in control. And the numbness that he had described to Adrienne that morning was seeping deeper and deeper the more things piled up in his life. So instead of answering, he grabbed John’s hand. The action was more for his own comfort than John’s, but even the slight touch had an effect on his boy. “We go home, and we let Herc and Adri sort it out.” 

John seemed to accept that this was all they had in them at the moment. They weren’t trying to come up with a solution, they were just trying to survive the storm. And while it wasn’t Laf’s favorite thing to do, his first priority was to himself and John, and even he could see that’s what they needed. 

The plane came to a stop, and Adrienne exited the cockpit. Laf stopped her and without a word John played the message Alex left. With a few soft curses, Adrienne pulled out her own phone and saw the same thing the guys had seen. She put Herc on speakerphone. “Can you give us an update?” 

Herc launched into their evening. “We called our branch that owns and manages the porn sites and they have all been taken down. The videos all came from different servers and IPs that lead to a whole lot of nothing so we can’t know _for sure_ who posted them. The new security passwords were installed as soon as the breach was detected and the apartment was swept for bugs. So the only problem now is the fact that before the videos were taken down after around 9 million people had already seen them. So the news outlets got wind of it and y’all are EVERYWHERE.” 

Adrienne cut in. “Is there a way we can plant a story that is more interesting than this that will give us time to hide away John and Gilbert?” 

“Adri, mon chou, you’re going to want to see this,” Jacques called from the cockpit. Adrienne stepped to the front momentarily before cursing a bit louder. 

“Are you waiting with the car?” Adrienne sighed, grabbing her and Jacques bags from the overhead. 

Herc responded, “Yep. We have two. Peggy is in the one for you and Jacques. I’m waiting at the back of the crowd for John and Laf. The Schuyler’s have insisted that you all come stay with them. until Saturday so that will be a bit easier to navigate as far as crowds wise, since Phillip has a gated driveway.” 

Adrienne said a quick goodbye. She then turned to John and Laf. “Jacques and I will park the plane and meet you at the Schuyler’s house. Keep your head tucked. Walk quickly. Don’t respond to the stimulus. This one is going to be intense.” 

Before Laf could take the lead, John grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the plane. Laf caught a glance of his face as they moved down the stairs, his steely determination contagious as they faced the alarming crowd together. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! If you're still here reading, I sincerely apologize for my absence (again). I'm not going to say why I've been gone. A lot of shit has happened and will probably continue to happen, but I have finally got this universe outlined to completion.
> 
> With that being said, I appreciate any comments, questions, or suggestions you might have. Your comments are what keep me coming back to writing. Thank you for your continued support.
> 
> My personal tumblr is smilingsarah10 and my writing tumblr is thenbreakme and I would love to hear from you on either of those. See you again soon!


	50. Chapter 50

When the shock passed, John couldn’t help but start to feel weird and despondent. Not only was his libido at an all time low now that the whole world had been or was currently viewing him in a few very private moments, but there was a tainting fear regarding his status as a future practitioner now that he’d been so exposed. Not even the jolly bustling of the Schuyler family decorating for Christmas was enough to pull him out of his head. 

Gil put a comforting hand on his shoulder, but John flinched away. John could see the hurt in his eyes. He knew he was being an asshole, but he couldn’t stop feeling like the whole world was watching every interaction they had, and it made him extremely uncomfortable. Was that Gil’s fault? Not at all. But John couldn’t figure out a way to entirely forgive him regardless. He stumbled out an excuse, “I just… need some space.” 

“Oui, of course,” Gil sounded tired and broken, “I can take a couch tonight? Adri and Jacques made it to the apartment and are making sure everything is in order, but it is going to take until tomorrow. We will have to stay here.” 

Before John could say anything to make the situation either better or worse, Alex and George popped up. George guided Gil toward the kitchen while Alex led John up the stairs into his room. When the door shut, Alex launched into an interrogation. “Alright, you and Laf are acting real fucking weird. Spill. Did he release the tapes? Did you two fight in France?” 

“I mean… no,” John tried to come up with the exact reason he was upset but failed. 

Alex seemed agitated and kept pressing. John finally snapped. “Listen, Alexander, my boyfriend was kidnapped and I had to cut a dude’s dick off to save him. Now, the entirety of the world is intimately familiar with my kinks and our bedroom dynamic. What if I can’t get into medical school because of this? What if all my dreams are ruined?” 

Alex looked disgusted. “Are you serious, John? Have you taken a second to, you know, get your head out of your ass?” 

John felt like he had whiplash. “Excuse me?” 

“Dude, I love you like a brother. Scratch that; I love you in a way that is mostly platonic but damn have you seen your… THAT’s not the point. The point is, I love you enough that when I know that you’re being an ass I feel comfortable calling you out on it. All your dreams? You are _happily_ dating the richest man on the planet. You are in love with that man. And that man would do absolutely anything for you. That man was also just kidnapped by someone who abused him for years and then watched you cut his dick off. That had to be traumatizing. Then something private to both of you gets posted for everyone to see, and instead of sticking together, you’re up here lamenting about how your dreams are all coming to an end. And maybe they are if you’re going to be a dick every time something goes wrong,” Alex could tell John was pissed and continued, “Listen, I am not telling you that you have to be all over each other. By all means, if you are both sensitive to touch, I totally get taking your time to get back there. But don’t make the person you love go on the journey back to normal alone. That’s all I’m saying.” 

John hated when Alex had a point. “What do I do? Every time anyone touches me I feel exposed.” 

Alex went to comfort John but reconsidered given his aversion to touch. “It’ll take some time to work through, and you might have to see someone to get outside help, but you can work through it. Just give it time. Build each other back up,” Alex pushed John out of the room as George reached the top of the stairs. “Go get your man. Me and Daddy will see you in the morning.” 

John couldn’t tell if he or George blushed deeper, but understood that Alex was trying to normalize everything that had happened and was grateful for the attempt. He wandered down the stairs and into the guest room. Gil spun where he stood in only his boxers with his toothbrush hanging out of his mouth. He attempted to say something, but the brush and paste made it a comical mess of grunts and gurgles. John cracked a smile for the first time since they landed. 

Gil rushed to the attached restroom to rinse out his mouth, and came back out looking sheepish. “Sorry about that. I asked if you wanted me to take the couch.” 

“NO, I mean, no. I just can’t do… touches right now. I’m really sorry if I was cold earlier,” John perched on the edge of the bed, still a little twitchy, “I can take the couch until we can get home and work on it?” 

“Hey, you’ve gotta work through things too. I’m just glad you want to work on it together,” Gil playfully tossed one of the many ridiculous throw pillows scattered throughout the room. “Now, how about we try to make a pillow barrier and maybe if I’m lucky we can hold hands over them?” 


	51. Chapter 51

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger Warnings: Emotional trauma, disassociation, family drama, extreme distress
> 
> Read with caution if these will affect you, loves.

As John and Alex took John’s normal commute back to the apartment, John reflected on how nice and normal it felt to be walking down the street as his best friend babbled on beside him. There was no car to pick him up and drive him to the apartment, no guards walking alongside him, and very minimal cameras following him around. Granted, there were an unusual number of men in suits scattered around campus, the subway, and the streets, but Gil was at least trying to give John some leeway with protection. One of the things they had talked about in therapy over the last few days was the give and take of John’s ‘regular’ life with his new-found fame, and giving him some time to go back to that ‘normal’: like a master reset. Gil had been all for whatever would make John the most comfortable; the thought was endearing, but John also worried that Gil might be trying to compensate for some built up guilt that he shouldn’t be feeling. John thought that maybe he would bring it up at their couple’s therapy the next day. 

Alex had apparently realized that he had lost John to his own thoughts. John realized they were walking in silence and snapped back to the present. “Shit, sorry about that! I promise I was listening,” he lied. 

Alex could obviously tell, but chose not to call him out on it. “It’s all good. I was going to get your attention, but I didn’t know what the best way to do that would be because of your touch sensitivity right now. How is that progressing by the way? You mentioned that you and Laf had been going to therapy but hadn’t really elaborated.” 

They finally managed to get to the apartment complex. There was a suspicious lack of anyone outside or in the lobby, and a doorman and elevator attendant that John hadn’t ever seen employed before. “My individual therapist is wonderful. She’s a sweet little old lady who lets me talk but doesn’t let me wallow. She talked to me about the difference between expected and unexpected touches, and then talked me through the differences between touches with my consent and touches without my consent. So I talked to Gil about it, and it really helped. There are some touches that are expected that I give consent to in advance: I know that I am going to get a hug and a kiss on the cheek before he leaves for work in the morning. There are some touches that are unexpected that I consent to. In the last few days, I remembered how much I miss the casual touches from day to day and cuddling. So I told him this morning that those were ok, and I think we are going to try sleeping without the pillow barrier tonight. Everything else, we both work on asking for before we do. So that’s going well!” 

Alex lit up as they walked into the apartment. He gave John time to hang up his keys before he asked his next question. “And the couples therapy? Is that helpful, too?” 

John blushed. He and Alex told each other everything so it was not an unexpected question, but John still worried about revealing too much to the wrong person. Alex flitted about the kitchen, pulling out mugs and making them some coffee, giving John enough time to remind himself that Alex would never use what he said against him outside of joking. 

“Well… Gil and I have been sleeping with minimal touching which means we haven’t… you know…” John stumbled at first. 

Alex pushed the coffee mug into his hand after adding enough sugar for John’s taste. “No banging. Gotcha. So that’s weird for you two because you had sex like rabbits before, right?” 

John released the tension in his muscles, grateful that Alex was himself and could read where he was going without him having to be so blunt. “Right! So our goal has been to work on that. And the therapist, love his heart, recommended _dance therapy_ which to me sounds crazy but in theory will work perfectly. So we are going to start with waltzing since we are both familiar with it and build up to something racier. Our first lesson is tomorrow.” 

“If it is possible for you to dance away this problem, I will be so excited for you! What’s it supposed to help though?” Alex asked, walking back to the door to kick off his shoes. “Oh, and do you have any extra leisure clothes? I really want to get out of the business apparel.” 

Alex followed John up the stairs as he explained. “Dancing is mostly expected touches. You put your hand in one place, and when you break apart, you know where the next place your partner is going to put their hand. So by re-familiarizing ourselves with the other person’s body through expected touching, we can work back up to sexual touching. In theory,” John pulled out a pair of his sweatpants for Alex, and grabbed a pair of Gil’s for himself. “We will see what actually happens, but I have high hopes.” 

Alex gave him a thumbs up and went on about therapy in general in the time it took them to change into their comfortable clothing. When that conversation winded down, they decided to watch a movie on Netflix until George showed up to get Alex. Alex had already talked to John about his weekend, sparing him the details about however much sex they had, but implying that it was enough to last Alex until at least that night. Which meant that Alex was going to dinner with the hopes of getting laid, and therefore wouldn’t want a huge lunch. 

Right as John was about to turn on the TV in the living room, Alex called out from the stairs, “Hey, maybe no Netflix? George just texted me that he’s heading here early and to keep you away from the TV!” 

By then, John had already hit the power button on the remote, and the TV blazed to life. It was on the nightly news channel that John and Gil watched to wind down for the day and remind them that the rumor mill would keep turning so that someone else would be in the spotlight. The woman announcing the news was halfway through whatever she was saying, “…news is blowing up with reports that South Carolina Senator Henry Laurens publically disowned his oldest son. We go now to footage caught from the scene.” 

The screen changed to footage that looked like it had been taken on an old phone of John’s father giving a speech. His grainy voice poured out of the speakers, “Like any father, the well-being of my children is my upmost priority. Since last Thursday, I have been asked over and over again what I think of my oldest ‘son’s’ behavior. To date, I have kept quiet on the matter, but I am ready to speak for the sake of my beautiful children…” John’s siblings were standing behind his father, looking uncomfortable but regal. “John Laurens is my son by name alone. He was always a difficult child, and although I tried my best, he strayed from my word and the word of the Lord. The hardest pitfall I have ever faced as a man and father was watching John ruin his own life. But, as per his request, I have been out of contact with him for years now, and all he is to me and my children is a lesson, and a very public one at that, of what happens when you stray from the path that is straight and narrow.” 

Alex finally made it to where John had crumpled into the floor, pried the remote from John’s hand, and cut the video. John couldn’t sort through the uprising of his emotions: anger, desolation, defeat, and shame bubbling up to tears in his eyes. He couldn’t hear what Alex was saying, and he couldn’t make himself care enough to listen. He could feel Alex pull him into his lap and wrap his arms around him to rock him back and forth, but it felt like he was only watching the situation unfold from afar instead of experiencing it himself. He didn’t feel really in the moment until Alex had to untangle himself from their spot on the floor to open the door. 

He heard George tell Alex that Gil was rushing home. He stood up from the floor, legs wobbling underneath him, and got on the couch. The leather was cold against his hot face since John couldn’t figure out how to get the tears to stop falling. Alex came back and asked if John was ok to be touched, but John could only cry harder at the feeling of wanting to be held but being repulsed by the idea at the same time. Alex took that as a no, and instead ran around the apartment finding pillows and blankets and anything else that might make John more comfortable. 

The questions that George and Alex were asking were good natured but almost overwhelming when all John wanted was for someone else to take the reins and make decisions for him if for only the rest of the day. 

Just as Alex was asking John if George could carry him somewhere, Gil burst through the front door with Herc, Adrienne, and Peggy in tow. He barely nodded an acknowledgement to George and Alex before kneeling down so that he was at eye-level with John. John whimpered as the tears built up again. Gil looked so angry, and John knew in his heart that it wasn’t at him, but his brain was hammering with self-doubt. Gil softened his gaze. Taking what John recognized as a risk, he stated, “I’m going to touch your face.” 

It was phrased like a statement, but John could sense the hesitation and nodded his consent. Gil reached across, brushing wet strands of hair away from his eyes and rubbing away some of the wet tear tracks. John flinched a little, but settled into the small touches. It felt extremely comforting to have Gil’s hands back on him, and after a moment he pressed into the palm of Gil’s hand. Gil leaned forward to gently kiss his forehead. “Can you trust me to take care of you, Querido? I promise I will not do anything to harm you or make you purposefully uncomfortable, and if I do, you say the word, and I will stop.” 

John nodded almost imperceptibly. His head was reeling, everything felt like too much, but after his family had publically disowned him, he couldn’t pretend like he had any family but the people in that room. In that moment, John didn’t trust anyone more than he trusted Gil to be able to take care of him. As if reading his mind, Gil whispered to him, “Everyone in this room loves you and has so much respect for how hard you have worked to get to this point on your own. Right now though and from this point on, you are not alone. We are all going to support you through this until you are back on your feet again.” 

With that, John let him move him so that Gil was sitting on the couch, and John was on his lap, facing him so that he didn’t have to see the concerned looks of his loved ones. Gil was whispering assignments to everyone in the room. “Herc, move all the rest of my appointments for the day or go to them if they can’t be moved. Take Adri if you get double booked. Adri, send an email out to John’s professors. He’s taking the rest of the week off for personal health. We can get a doctor’s note if necessary. Check the syllabi and see which ones would be willing to give John’s work to Alex. Tell them I can call if necessary given the circumstances. Two days is not going to be a problem for a straight A student. Alex, George, Thank you so much for getting here and letting us know what was going on. I think we can take it from here.” 

And with that, everyone had something productive to do except John and Gil. Without realizing he was thinking out loud, John spilled, “Everyone is doing something except for me. I’m useless.” 

Gil squeezed him, getting compacted more of a comfort than an agitation that John expected. “Nonsense, Pequeña, you and I are going to do just as much work as everyone else, but not until you are feeling well enough to. So for the next few days, we are going to take care of each other and do some inward work,” John could see the sincerity of his words in his eyes. He could also see a building anger lying right under the concern that came out in his next words, “And then, when we are both well enough, we strike back. It’s about time that we got some positive press.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is rock bottom I promise. Things will go up from here. 
> 
> Comments are always 100% the best way to get my attention! I respond to every one I get. If you don't want to reach out here, my writing tumblr is thenbreakme.tumblr.com and my personal is smilingsarah10. I look forward to hearing from you all! 
> 
> Thank you so much for reading along!


	52. Chapter 52

To say that Laf was livid would have been an understatement. He hadn’t had much respect for Senator Laurens just from the little John had told him previously, but now, _oh_ , Henry Laurens would be lucky if he could manage to keep his office for the duration of his term. He had picked up an enemy without even realizing it. Peggy and Adrienne had both been given the secret assignments to pull every skeleton in his closet out in the open without letting it get traced back to them. Herc was meeting with some of their media liaisons to see which talk shows wanted to host John and Laf for their first official statement since everything had gone down. Getting back on their feet publically was going to be the easy part. Getting back on their feet at home on the other hand… 

Laf hadn’t yet moved them from their spot pressed together on the couch. John’s sobs had faded into small whimpers that he felt against his shoulder more than heard. He hadn’t said anything since the apartment had cleared out, letting John have time to himself. The therapists had said not to let him wallow in negative emotions, but this felt different and necessary. So Laf held his small, trembling boy together while he fell apart, stroking his free hand through his hair or down his back or across his hip as felt necessary. When around a half hour had passed, Laf stood carefully, holding John to him tightly as he took them upstairs to his personal bathroom. It had the biggest shower in the apartment and he figured that was the best step forward. 

When he sat John on the sink, it seemed so different than all the times before. Normally, John was teary eyed and smiling: lost in his own head after hours of sex and ready for a bath. In that moment, his big eyes were red from crying and his lip still wobbled as tears threatened to fall again. Laf nodded his head toward the shower. “I’m going to get us clean, Pequeña. Boxers on or off?”

John’s voice was little more than a whisper and shook as the one syllable left his lips. “Off.” 

Laf bent over to wipe the tear away from where it was trailing down John’s cheek. Faster than Laf thought was possible at the moment, John’s hand covered his on his cheek, and he began to cry harder. “Papi, am I broken?” 

Laf stroked his hand across John’s face before taking his small hand in his own and squeezing. “No, Querido, no. You are not broken. Maybe a little bruised, but nothing that we can’t fix or heal from. Do you want to talk about it?” 

John shook his head vehemently. Laf nodded and kissed John’s forehead. He pulled off his own clothing piece by piece, turning the water in the shower on before stripping John. John helped in what little ways he could but mainly stayed curled up on the sink. When the water steamed up the mirror, Laf moved them both into the shower. He used his body to shield John from the water stream until they both got more adjusted to the temperature. John seemed like a minimally animated rag doll, moving when Laf instructed, but unable to support himself on his own. Laf didn’t mind; he kept John pinned between his body and the wall while he washed his body and hair. The only noise John made was a small hum as Laf washed the suds out of his curls. “Feel good, little one?” Laf asked. 

John looked at him with a little glimmer of life hidden in the darkness and nodded. Laf took that as a positive step in the right direction. Minding his step, Laf turned the water off and carried John out of the shower. He grabbed the soft fluffy towels usually reserved for after a scene and towel dried them both off gently. John moved a little more freely but still seemed reluctant to move on his own. Laf wrapped him in his robe before putting on his own. When they were warm and dry, Laf finagled both of their hair into buns. “When did you last eat today?” he asked John as he secured the hair tie. 

John made eye contact with him in the mirror, and Laf couldn’t help but take a small pleasure in the way John scrunched up his nose when he was thinking and the way the freckles on his face seemed to dance because of it. “Breakfast?” John answered, obviously not sure about the validity of the statement. 

Laf kissed his nose just to watch him scrunch it up again. “Papi!” John whined, letting the sparkle in his eyes convey that he was joking. 

“How about we have some snacks and call it an early bedtime? I think some rest would do us both some good,” Laf asked, cradling John to his chest. John’s little hums and his body relaxing into Laf’s for the first time in what felt like ages was addicting, and he wanted to feel it as long as John would let him. 

John nodded, then seemed to hesitate, letting out tiny puffs of air where his face was turned down towards Laf’s chest. Laf tipped his head up so that they were making eye contact before checking in to make sure that John was ok. He held Laf’s gaze for the first time since he’d been home. Clearing his throat, he managed to get out, “Wanna’ help.” 

Laf couldn’t help the smile that bloomed across his features. “Of course, Querido. We will do something simple.” 

Laf carried John down the stairs and into their kitchen, depositing him on the island where he could help if he wanted but could also just relax. Laf pulled out all of the ingredients they kept on reserve for John’s favorite sandwiches which was basically anything with peanut butter. The island was soon covered with jam, preserves, jelly, apples, bananas, and honey, as well as a variety of breads and ‘butters’. John pointed to the one he wanted: honey wheat bread with apple jelly and crunchy peanut butter. Laf let him spoon out the jelly and instruct how Laf should cut it. He only rolled his eyes a little when Laf cut the triangles more into the shape of a heart to get rid of the crusts. John reached for the sandwich, but Laf shook his head. “Let me get mine made first and then we can eat, d’accord?” 

John relaxed back onto his elbows and watched with medium interest as Laf assembled his own sandwich: a honey oatmeal wheat bread with almond butter, sliced apples, and a drizzle of honey. He cut his into the same hearts, being careful to try and leave some of his crust, and then moved both plates in reach of John. “Could I feed you, John?” his voice dropped in hesitation as he stared resolutely at the counter. 

He felt a tiny nudge to his chin, John just barely tipping his head up, and when he made eye contact he saw little puddles of tears forming in the corner of his eyes counteracted by the soft smile and nod that accompanied them. Laf lifted one of the triangles up to John’s lips, marveling at the fact that John’s hands didn’t leave the counter. The display of trust and intimacy was intoxicating. Laf held the triangle steady until John had taken his bite and then moved it back onto his plate.

John motioned for something to drink, so Laf pulled away from the moment to get some milk out of the fridge. When he turned back around, John was holding one of Laf’s triangles out and motioning for him to hurry back. Laf sat the milk jug down beside their plates, and hurried back between John’s legs to lean in and take a bite. It wasn’t until John giggled and Laf saw the mischief in his eyes that he realized… 

Laf pulled away with a mixture of honey and peanut butter smeared on the tip of his nose as John’s giggles turned into as close to a laugh as he could get with how raw his throat probably felt. Laf wanted to be disgruntled, but he couldn’t help but beam at the slow re-emergence of the love of his life. As John drank a quick drink straight from the milk jug, Laf wiped off his nose and took an actual bite of his sandwich thinking, _‘There’s my boy.’_

After some childish teasing that neither really meant, they settled back into the quiet intimacy of feeding each other, with only the occasional slip of peanut butter on a cheek or nose or chin. Once they had each finished two sandwiches, John yawned and stretched on the counter. Laf didn’t realize he was staring until John made grabby hands at him, spurring him into action. 

“Bedtime?” John whispered the question into Laf’s shoulder, and Laf nodded instead of verbally responding. He settled John in on his side of their bed and started putting up the line of pillows they had been using as a barrier every night. Laf only startled a little when he heard John clear his throat and saw him shake his head. 

“Not tonight,” John simply said, moving the pillows Laf had already laid down back to the headboard and patting Laf’s side of the bed, “Need you tonight.” 

Laf blushed and climbed into the bed, letting John settle into his side tentatively before wrapping an arm around him. John let out a contented sigh. “Story please?” 

Laf hummed his response before starting to tell one of his favorite stories from childhood. He started with the French then would go back and tell each page in English, just like he and Adri would do from time to time. John made little noises of content as he went along. When he finished the story, John was still fighting sleep. Laf’s eyebrows knit together until he figured out what to do. In a rumbling tired voice, he started singing the earliest songs he knew: French lullabies. It was not long before John was solidly asleep, but Laf kept singing until the tune played in his own dreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Surprise! This fic is not dead and I am not dead. If anyone is still out there, I thank you for your patience with me as an author. I've been through a lot in these few months, and I'm still on a major personal journey so please be gentle with me. I hope you enjoy this update, and I can't wait to post again soon.
> 
> Comments? Questions? A Couple of Suggestions? My personal tumblr is 'smilingsarah10' and my writing blog is 'thenbreakme'


	53. Chapter 53

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry about how long it has taken me to get back to writing. If you're still out there reading this work, thank you for your patience! I have this and tSS outlined to completion. It may take me a while, but it will get done!
> 
> This chapter is kind of my warmup back into writing. I hope it's not too terrible. The boys are going through some major changes, so if they seem a little ooc it's probably intentional. They will work their way back to normalcy.

The next week was a blur for both of them as Adrienne and Herc guided them through media coverage: what to say (more importantly what not to say), what to wear, which emotions to portray. Laf had been worried that a couple of days of isolation was not enough to get John’s head back in the right place. They had both been to their own respective therapist appointments and had made it through their first two private dance classes, but even with all the mental support they had been given, John had been, well, _reclusive_ with the exception of Laf’s presence. Laf considered that a small blessing given the circumstances, but it was still quite odd to watch regardless. John was normally always doing something: painting a new piece, going to practices, running his own statistics, or studying for classes he wasn’t even enrolled in yet. On top of that, he was almost constantly in contact with Alex, but Laf hadn’t heard from him or George in the two weeks they had been in the public eye. Laf could understand George wanting to keep away from the limelight: no politician in their right mind would want to be anywhere near tied into the scandal that Henry Laurens had created. 

And what a scandal it was. Laf watched from a screen behind the scenes as John talked about what drove him to be a surgeon and what it was like growing up gay in the south. When Henry had made his life into a public spectacle, Laf reasoned that he probably wasn’t expecting John to become America’s sweetheart immediately after. Even without Laf pulling strings with long time contacts and friends, John was a natural on the screen. He was just bashful enough that he captured an innocence that half the population loved and just playful enough that the other half knew he was more than meets the eye. His wit was sharp; there were multiple interviews where he had made his host laugh so hard they had to pause or sometimes pause just to process the magnitude of the meaning behind his simple phrases. Within the week, they had managed to change the lens back onto Henry, and it didn’t look so good for him. The majority of the country couldn’t understand how you could mistreat someone like John Laurens, and even without the gritty details, it was obvious to everyone that Henry had done just that. All of the sudden, there were women and people who had worked with him coming out of the woodwork to air their own stories that included everything from sexual deviancy to misuse of funds and trust. The articles kept coming, and at the end of every article or interview, the line read _‘Henry Laurens' representative could not be reached for comment.’_ Laf intended to keep it that way at least until the media maelstrom could move on to the next big hot button issues and let them slink back into blissful peace and lack of notoriety. 

John’s beaming smile slipped into something a little more comfortable and subdued as he approached the backstage area of the show he was just on. They had been filming for most of the morning, and Laf could read exhaustion in his gait and features. “How did I do, Papi?” he asked as he smothered himself into Laf’s chest. 

“You know you always do excellent, Pequeña. How are you feeling?” Laf ran his hands down John’s back in a soothing manner. Another major change from week to week was John’s willingness to be touched. Something in him snapped the day that Henry Laurens had taken the screen, and John would only allow himself to be touched by Laf. There were times that he would even flinch away from him, but those moments were much less concerning than watching him shy away from affection from Adrienne or making Herc leave the room and only let Laf get him dressed. Laf could even see a change in his countenance when he had to shake hands with TV personalities and reporters. But he also knew that John was working through things at his own pace. And he knew that his therapist would have words for him should he start trying to make John go any faster than his desired pace. In the meantime, he just had to trust his instincts and continue to take care of both of their needs. It was grounding, and he was a bit ashamed to admit exactly how much he didn’t mind making a lot of John’s decisions, even more than he had been making up to that point. Even so, he knew he would be excited when John started to come back out of his shell enough to talk about what was going on. 

John didn’t exactly respond to Laf’s question. Instead he opted to grunt pitifully into Laf’s collarbone and shrug his shoulders. Laf tried a more direct question with less ambiguity, “Would you like to eat at home or eat at that place down the street that you love?” 

John pulled away and smiled his tired smile back at Laf. “Could we get takeout from there and eat it in our boxers at home?” 

It was amazing how John had become so in tune with his life that he actually had the schedule app pulled up before Laf. “It looks like you don’t have any more meetings today, and I am on leave from all of my sports until next season or whenever I feel up to conditioning with the team. I’m all caught up on my work that I missed. We don’t have anything to do tonight.” 

Laf stared in amazement at the man in front of him and put thoughts of isolation aside. Was it so wrong for John to want to spend time alone with him? After everything they’d been through, Laf considered that maybe John was onto the perfect remedy. With a soft kiss on John’s forehead and a nod. They made their way out of the studio on their journey home. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks so much for reading! This fic is my baby and I love any feedback you want to give! As far as a writing schedule, I hate to disappoint anyone, but I don't have one. I start grad school in a month, but my time not spent writing papers and hanging out with my boyfriend (!!!) will be spent updating all of these fics.
> 
> Thanks so much for your patience and your ongoing support.
> 
> XOXO
> 
> Comments? Questions? A couple of suggestions? Find me on tumblr @smilingsarah10


	54. Chapter 54

It was another full week before anyone said anything about the two acting funny. John knew that it had to come up eventually. With how social they both were, someone was bound to notice that they had turned drastically inward. John for some reason was not expecting the person to bring it up to be Peggy, however. “You know, with the way you and Laf are acting, we might as well downsize to just one security team,” she joked in the car on the way from John’s campus to Gil’s office complex. 

John just rolled his eyes and laughed in the most positive way he could muster, meaning it probably sounded strained. A few months ago, John would have felt like a fly in a spider’s web because of the amount of time that he was spending at Gil’s side. Even now, John had broken tradition and told Alex that he had a meeting and would have to miss their lunch date. He felt a little bad for lying, but the moments spent away from Gil made him physically ache if they drug on too long. John’s therapist, bless her, told him that latching on to those you care about after great trauma can happen just as often as the opposite. She also told John that if he couldn’t wean himself back into normalcy, she would be there to help, but he needed to give himself time. Really, what was a few weeks in the grand scheme of things? 

Which is how John found himself calling for Peggy to drive him to the office between his morning and evening classes, sitting in on meetings that he had no reason to be at, inviting Gil to work out and eat meals with him, and even spend time in the lab together with the ruse that Gil wanted to learn more about John’s studies and attending his private make-up labs would help. He knew that it looked weird. He just didn’t care. 

John kissed Peggy on the cheek and thanked her for driving him over. She gave him a look full of pity and told him that she’d come back and get him about thirty minutes before his night class unless Gil’s meetings ran short, then drove off to park the car. He had barely gotten off the elevator when he heard Gil’s voice. “My sweet John! I thought you had lunch with Alex? Is everything alright?” 

They exchanged quick chaste kisses before retreating back into Gil’s office. John found it ironic that Gil would question his skipping lunch with Alex when he himself was missing lunch with George, but he decided not to say anything. “Everything is fine. Well… not _fine_ but probably currently unfixable. I just needed some space and wanted to sit with you for a while. Is that alright? I’m not interrupting, am I?” 

Gil pulled John onto his lap on the sofa that sat in his spacious office. John’s portable watercolors were still in a pile by the window, his notecards for one of his biochemistry classes still in their neat piles on the coffee table, and his travel bag and blanket were in the corner as evidence that he probably spent too much time in an office that wasn’t his. Gil’s voice rumbled from where he had his face pressed into John’s chest. “Querido, you know I’m never going to turn down a visit from you. Whenever you need me. You know that.” 

John settled into his embrace, sliding down so that he could rest comfortably against his boyfriend and cuddle in close. “Herc asked me today if you’d be stopping by the office. He wants to talk to us about how we are doing since… well… no need for that right now.” 

John met Gil’s eyes. The little sparkle of mischief that was usually ever present was dimmed, but John could still get lost in the depth and emotion that those eyes carried. “They are having an engagement party soon. We are invited. Do you want to go?” 

It didn’t take long to consider the question. After all, they were family to John. The only one he had. “Of course we should go! Although, I suppose we are going to have to pick our own outfits. It’d be rude for us to make Herc get something together for his own party,” John joked. It felt natural to joke with Gil. It made things in the little room feel normal in a world that felt very much not. 

Gil snorted. It wasn’t cute or quaint by any means but it was so perfectly him that John loved the sound in its entirety. “If you think Herc would want anyone but himself to dress us, most especially letting us pick out our own clothes, I question if you’ve even met him.” 

Just then, there was an odd sound of muffled yelling coming from outside the door, or maybe a floor or two down, John could never tell with the way the room carried sound. Gil tensed up beneath him. “What the…” 

The scuffle seemed to grow louder until it neared the door to Gil’s office. John noticed that his heartrate was elevated and then noticed that Gil’s was, too. Gil sat John down on the couch and motioned for him to be silent. John watched him creep closer to the door to where he could hear the noises outside a little better. The yelling had increased, and John was only a second away from panicking when he saw a look of recognition come over Gil followed by a calmness that John didn’t understand. 

There was a heavy pounding on the door causing both men to jump, but Gil composed himself enough to look put together as he swung the door open. John felt the breath he was holding finally expel when he heard the voices clearly. One was Gil’s temp secretary apologizing profusely for letting the others get close enough to knock, _‘But really, Sir, they were very **insistent**.’_

Gil waved him off and stepped back to let George and Alex into the office. “Since you two both bailed, we figured you’d be hungry and decided to bring lunch to you,” Alex explained his voice masquerading hurt behind jocularity, holding up many bags of food from the local Thai place. 

“Besides,” George smiled, a bit uncomfortable with the amount of concern he seemed to have let slip through, “We thought maybe now would be a good time to talk.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't decided if I'm going to show them hashing out this conversation, but it boils down to this: your friends are gonna get hella concerned if you go from spending every other day together to not talking at all, and although it's okay to work through your problems at your own pace, maybe just make sure that your friends know that they didn't do anything wrong. Especially if they've been trying to check on you. They'll all be fine BUT they do need to communicate, silly boys. 
> 
> Comments? Questions? A couple of suggestions? Find me on tumblr @smilingsarah10.


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